ON MY OWN
by J7339
Summary: Lucas/Bridger story - don't want to give the plot away before you read it - please review and let me know if you want me to continue
1. Default Chapter

  
  
  
  
  
  
ON MY OWN   
  
  
  


He ran.... He ran until he could run no more. He ran along the beach until the sand 

reached the waves.   
  


He sat down on the rocky outcrop just in front of the short line. His heart was heaving 

in his chest from the crying he had been doing whilst fleeing.   
  


Now he was still, the crying was replaced by heart wrenching sobs. He leaned his head 

against his knees and cried. Cried until his tears combined with the salt water below and 

there was not longer any distinction between the two.   
  


Up until 15 minutes ago he had felt on top of the world. He had felt loved and needed. 

He thought he had a family and friends.   
  


Now that was all changed........ In the blink of an eye he was on his own. 

How could he have been so blind? He had spent a good number of years protecting himself 

against something just like this. Shielding himself from the pain of letting people in. 

It had all sounded so good. So reassuring.   
  


Come with us Lucas they said. Live with us and we will show you the love that you have 

always looked for. YEAH RIGHT. he told himself. He couldn't believe he had fallen 

for it. How could he have been so gullible. He had fallen hook line and sinker. 

'You fell for it Wolenczak' he berated himself. "Fell like a stone. Bought every God damned 

word of it. And look at you now?"   
  


The words he heard had been echoing in his head:   
  


Fifteen minutes ago he had pulled up outside his father's house. Father's house he spat 

bitterly. Another lie. The one person he thought he could truly trust after all of this time. 

And now, it turned out he was just like all the rest.   
  
  
  
  
  


He had pulled up outside Captain Nathan Bridger's house after spending a night out on 

the mainland. The company had been delightful. Nothing serious, but the girl had been quite 

pretty and keep his attention for the entire night.   
  


He had just approached the screen door on the front of the house when he heard voices:   
  


"It's not like he has had only one chance at this" Lucas heard Commander Jonathan 

Ford say.   
  


"He's right" Kristen Westphalen added in "I've been getting all sorts of bad reports 

from my scientific people as well over the last few weeks. His punctuality, his tardiness, 

his lack of professionalism. It just is inexcusable Nathan."   
  


"I know what you are both saying" Bridger said coming into the conversation. "I might 

have closed my eyes to a little bit of it, but I have been getting negative reports from most 

of the senior crew as well about him. I just don't know what the solution to the problem is."   
  


"You have to be firm on this Captain" Ford said. "If he gets away with this, then what 

sort of example it is setting for the rest of the crew?"   
  


"Where else can I put him on the ship?" Bridger now asked his co-workers.   
  


"Maybe there isn't really a place for him on the SeaQuest." Kristen said honestly.   
  


"I agree with the doctor Captain" Ford said "He needs to be given his notice as soon 

as possible."   
  


"Alright, I don't like it much, but I think the time has come for him to go as well" Bridger 

said confidently. "I'll draw up the appropriate paperwork in the morning and approach 

him when I see him."   
  


Lucas had been standing in the shadows outside whilst listening to his friends gathered 

around the table inside. Friends, friends that wanted nothing but to stab him in the back.   
  
  
  
  
  


He suddenly found himself breathing shallowly. He was finding it hard to take in what 

he had just heard. But the voices where unmistakable, Commander Jonathan Ford, 

Kristen Westphalen and Captain Nathan Bridger. The people he respected the most. 

The people who claimed to love him. It had all been a lie, a terrible lie.   
  


He found himself running. He didn't know where he was running to, but he had to get 

away from there as fast as possible.   
  


He tried to fit it with the crew on the SeaQuest. It wasn't easy being the 17 years old 

genius aboard who ran the ship's computer system. It was even harder to fit in being 

the adopted son of the Captain of the ship. Everyone looked him suspiciously or rather 

looked down at him. They all asked the question why was he really here.   
  


Truth was, he didn't really know why he was still there. His real father Lawrence Wolenczak 

had placed him there a little over three years ago when he needed someone else to watch out 

for him. He provided the money, somebody else did the dirty work. It was just the way 

Lawrence and Cynthia Wolenczak saw the duties of parenthood.   
  


After a while he thought he was beginning to settle in okay. The crew treated him a little better. 

Maybe a little at a hand's distance, but they seemed friendly enough on a day to day basis.   
  


Then there was the Captain. After all of those nights where he had cried himself to sleep in 

Bridger's arms, telling him of his upbringing in the Wolenczak's household. This man, who 

claimed to be a father to him, promised to protect him, look after him and most of him, love him. 

Love him unconditionally Lucas thought the agreement had said. But now that unwritten 

contract was in torn up pieces on the floor. It had meant nothing.   
  


If his so called friends and family didn't want him anymore, maybe it was time to find out 

what else was out in the big wide world for Lucas Wolenczak. Maybe it was time to spread 

his wings and find out who he really was.   
  


Maybe it was time to leave SeaQuest.....................   
  
  
  
  
  


Lucas sat on the beach for what seemed to be hours. When he had made his mind up 

about what he wanted to do, he got up and walked back towards the house.   
  


He didn't want to go inside. That was the last place he wanted to be at the moment. 

And he didn't want to let them see him either. He couldn't take that right at the moment. 

To see them greeting him on false pretences would just be like a slap in the face.   
  


He had his wallet on him and surveyed it's contents. He had enough money to support 

himself temporarily. There was more funds available, tucked away in the bank if he 

wanted some more later. He could and would survive okay. He had the immediate 

problem though of getting some personal items. Clothes and his other possessions 

were safely locked away in his bedroom for the time being.   
  


He got back into his car before they noticed his presence and drove off towards 

the mariner. Once there, he paid the fare to get the last ferry of the night to the 

mainland. He left the car in the parking lot. It was locked, but he wouldn't be 

able to take it with him tonight. For the next few weeks he would be on his own 

and probably on foot or whatever transport he could waver down on the road.   
  


On his way over by ferry, he made a mental list of things he would need to start 

his new life. He would need to stop off at a friend's place first and get the clothing 

and other minor details sorted out. Once on the road he could get the other things, 

but for the time being he intended to travel as light as possible. Two changes 

of clothes and the shoes on his feet would be all he could carry at the moment. The 

thing that he would have to carry no matter what was a heavy heart. It pained him 

to think that he would never see his friends or family again. But they had made the 

decision and both he and they had to accept that.   
  


********************************************************************   
  


Lucas got off the ferry and made his way by taxi to 123 South Road. Wolfman's place. 

Over the years, this was his one true friend. Someone who didn't pretend to be something 

he wasn't. If Wolfman thought Lucas was getting out of line, he would say so. Just like 

he gave encouragement and praise when also deserved.   
  


It was 1.30am in the morning when Lucas knocked on his friends door. The porch light 

came on and a sleepy looking teenager with curly black hair opened the heavy wooden door. 

When he saw who was at the door, he rubbed at his eyes and looked again just to make sure 

he wasn't seeing things.   
  


"Frankie?" he exclaimed as he pulled Lucas inside his apartment. "What the hell are you 

doing here this time of night?". The forlorn look on Lucas's face told him that this wasn't 

a social call. Something was definitely wrong.   
  


Lucas gave quick wave to his best friend as he was steered towards Wolfman's humble 

abode. The bedroom was dark, just the way he liked it. The walls were painted black 

and inside was undistinguishable except for the small circle of light coming from the 

bedside table lamp.   
  


Lucas pulled up a chair and sat beside his friend's bed as Wolfman made himself 

comfortable on the bed.   
  


"What's up cuz" Wolfman asked trying to sound as casual as possible.   
  


"They don't want me anymore, Wolfy" Lucas said as he tried to choke back the tears 

that threatened. "It was all a lie, a great big fat lie. And I bought every God Damned 

word of it."   
  


Wolfman hadn't completely understood what Lucas had said. Something about 

somebody not wanting him. It sounded like Lucas was finally accepting what his 

so called parents had done to him. Lawrence and Cynthia Wolenczak. Scum Bags of the world.   
  


"All this time, I believed them. Thought that they wanted me aboard the SeaQuest. 

Everything seemed to be going okay. I finally thought somebody wanted me for being 

Lucas Wolenczak." Lucas continued.   
  


Wolfman's mouth dropped open with shock when he realised that Lucas had been 

talking about his friends and family aboard the SeaQuest. "You mean that THEM?"   
  


Lucas just nodded his head in answering yes.   
  


"Tell me what happened and don't leave anything out" Wolfman said as he moved 

off the bed towards Lucas and put a comforting arm around his best friend.   
  


Lucas proceeded to tell Wolfman about what he had overheard from the people 

inside the house. Bridger, Westphalen and Ford. He said it word for word and 

even repeated it for his friend when it seemed the Wolfman was doubting that Lucas's 

new family would say such things.   
  


"They said it alright Wolfman" Lucas said in bitterness. "I heard them. And there 

was no mistake about who was saying it. My so called friend and family from SeaQuest."   
  


"What are you going to do now?" Wolfman said dreading the answer.   
  


"I don't know" Lucas said in honesty. "I got enough money to keep me going for 

a while. But I suppose I have to move on and find something else to do with my life. 

I've got some skills, but I don't want to go anywhere they might come looking." 

Lucas answered.   
  


"I think I'll just look around the backwoods and back roads first. Got to be something 

around that I can do out towards Arizona and them places. Bridger and the others 

wouldn't think of coming to look for me out that way. I haven't got a car, so I guess 

that I will be just flat footing it for a while."   
  


"Why don't you stay here, Frankie?" Wolfman said "I know lots of places that would 

gladly employ somebody with your brain."   
  


"Thanks, Wolfman, really, but the public eye is the last place I want to be right now. 

I need to get out and find out what's in the world for Lucas. I am going to finally put 

myself first for a change." Lucas said. "Promise me that you won't tell anybody which 

direction I am headed in."   
  


"I promise Frankie, but you sure you're going to be alright on your own" Wolfman 

said with a little uneasiness. "It could be tough out there on your own for a while."   
  
  
  


"I know, but maybe that exactly what I need right now. All my life people have been 

telling me that I have an IQ equal to some of the best minds in the world, but to 

tell you the truth, I really don't give a damn. I want to find out what I can do without 

using my brain power. There's got to be a lot more out there than just the sea 

and computers."   
  


Wolfman was totally confused and baffled by that last comment. Lucas had always 

been into computers. He was a hacker himself, but Lucas took the prize and the cake 

too when it came to ability with computers. Nobody could get close to Lucas Wolenczak. 

Even the great Mycroft had failed in his attempts to beat Lucas at his own game.   
  


The fact that Lucas was considering that computers was now less important worried 

him about his friend more than ever.   
  


Lucas was obviously resolved in his decision to leave. Wolfman knew it would be wrong 

as a friend to stop him. But he felt he needed to do something. "What do you need from 

me, pal?"   
  


"Some clothes and your silence." Lucas said. "I couldn't go back to the house 

to get anything. Just two changes and a backpack if you've got a spare one."   
  


"The clothes I can give you, no problem. But I'm not sure about the other Lucas." 

Wolfman said. "I don't want to betray your trust, but this will be the first place 

for Bridger or the crew to look. They are likely to drag me over the coals to find 

out what I know."   
  


"Yeah I suppose your right" Lucas replied "Okay, just let me get some shut eye 

for an hour or so and I be on my way. Even if they show up here, I will be long 

gone."   
  


**********************************************************************   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


About three hours later Lucas walked back out the front door of Wolfman's apartment. 

The two friends stood on the front landing for a few minutes. They gave each other 

a handshake at first, but Wolfman couldn't help but pull his friend into a hug. He had 

tears of his own thinking about Lucas being forced to go it alone in this world. His 

friend had been hurt too much already in his short life. It pained him to think of Lucas 

going through any more torture on his own.   
  


Wolfman knew that Lucas would eventually think about his friends and Bridger aboard 

the SeaQuest. They had been such a large part of his life for a long time now. Even 

if it were all fake, Lucas feelings towards them had been genuine enough. That was 

something you could just quickly wash away and forget. His friend was in for some 

rough time emotionally over the next few days and weeks. There would be no one to 

help him through it either.   
  


"See you around, Wolfy" Lucas said with a cheery grin as he started walking down 

the street away from his friend. "See you later alligator"   
  


"In a while crocodile" came the reply but he felt the hot sting of his own tears 

as Lucas continued on his new path.   
  


It was about this time that Wolfman decided that he had a phone call to make. 

He didn't want to betray his friend and he wouldn't, but he really needed to give 

Lucas's so called friends and family a serve. How could they be so callous about 

Lucas like that. He felt the anger inside him grow. He picked up the phone and 

prepared to call the Bridger's residence on the island.   
  


******************************************************************   
  


It was about 4.00 a.m. on the island. Bridger and Kristen were now very worried 

about the missing teenager. He was supposed to be home about four hours ago, but 

still hadn't shown up.   
  


He had walked to the mariner to catch the ferry, so his motorcycle remained parked 

in the garage as usual.   
  


Bridger had arranged for some of the senior members of the crew to arrive on the 

island and start forming a search party for Lucas.   
  


Bridger was just briefing Ben Krieg, Commander Ford, Miguel Ortiz and Tim 

O'Neill on Lucas's last known whereabouts. The video phone rang. Bridger 

hoped that it might be some good news. Maybe it was Lucas trying to call, saying 

he was stuck on the mainland, safe and sound.   
  


No such luck. They were very surprised to see the face of Lucas's young friend 

Wolfman. The boy's real name was Nick but Lucas never called him that.   
  


Bridger and the others had only met the young man on a few occasions after Lucas's 

stay on Node Three. The two had become even closer since that visit and would 

talk to each other via the webnet more than twice a day some times.   
  


Bridger opened the conversation "Hi Wolfman" he said with a small smile. Maybe 

Lucas had decided to spend the night at Nick's place and forgot to call home.   
  


Wolfman looked about the room and could see everybody that should be there for 

what he was about to say.   
  


"YOU ALL SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELVES" he barked on the other 

side of the screen. The young man was quite ticked off at something or somebody.   
  


Bridger and the others had expected the teenager to ask for his friend or tell them 

that Lucas was with him. They didn't expect the hostile reception they received.   
  


"Whoa, settle down" Bridger said trying to calm down the angry young man in front 

of him.   
  


"Don't tell me to calm down after what you've all done" Wolfman said. He wasn't 

a part of the military and he barely knew any of the people in front of him. He decided 

that he didn't really need to mind his P's and Q's at this point in time. Especially due 

to the fact that the people he was looking at had caused his best friend such pain.   
  


"What we've done" Kristen now asked in surprise. She didn't know what Nick 

was driving but she didn't like be spoken by anybody in that tone of voice.   
  


"Have you seen Lucas tonight Nick?" Bridger asked before the conversation turned 

even nastier.   
  


"Have I seen Lucas tonight?" Nick spat in bitterness "Yeah I've seen Lucas tonight 

and no thanks to you bozos."   
  


Bridger sighed a little in relief when he heard that Lucas might be with his best friend. The 

relief was short lived though.   
  


"When did you see him" Ben Krieg now asked trying to keep his temper in check 

at this person he barely knew who was hurling abuse at them through the video link.   
  


"He was here about two hours ago, crying his heart out on my shoulder. And he 

has all of you to thank for that. You really shouldn't have said the things you said 

Captain Bridger" Nick said.   
  


"Shouldn't have said what" Bridger said a little annoyed. He was getting yelled at by 

this person and he didn't have the faintest idea why. All he knew was that Nick was 

very angry and apparently Lucas had been crying at his place a little earlier.   
  


"Don't pretend you don't know" Nick shouted back in disgust   
  


"Nick" Kristen said trying to interject before Nathan blew a fuse "I am sorry, we really 

don't know what you're talking about" she said in a gentler tone.   
  


Wolfman looked at these faces and didn't know whether to believe them or not. Could 

Lucas have made a grave mistake.   
  


Nathan could see the uncertainty written on Nick's face. "How about you take it back 

to the beginning and tell us what happened between you and Lucas tonight. We are 

very worried, he hasn't returned home yet."   
  


"And after what I have to tell you, maybe he never will" Wolfman said in sadness.   
  


Bridger and Kristen paled slightly at this comment. "Never return?. What are you 

talking about" the captain now asked.   
  


"Lucas came to my place about 1.30 this morning. He was crying when I answered 

the door. I told him to come in. When he got to my room, he broke down totally 

and told me about what he had over heard you, Kristen and Commander Ford saying about 

him tonight." Nick explained.   
  


"We weren't talking about Lucas" Bridger started to say when he suddenly remembered 

the conversation that he and Kristen had with Jonathan earlier about Seaman Thomas 

from personnel.   
  


Kristen and Commander Ford now paled at hearing this comment. They both knew the 

conversation Wolfman meant. How could they have been so stupid to let Lucas hear 

words like that. What was the boy supposed to think. Here they had been talking about 

getting rid of a seaman who hadn't being pulling his weight for quite some time. They 

had not mentioned any names during the discussion and it never occurred to them that 

Lucas might overhear them and assume that they were talking about him.   
  


Ben Krieg wanted to know what was going on as well. He could sense that something 

had been overheard by Lucas. But what?   
  


Kristen explained what they had exactly said, word for word. And when the conversation 

was examined in detail. With the absence of names, it was easy to see why Lucas had 

thought they were talking about him.   
  


His father Lawrence Wolenczak had told him that he was useless his entire life. He had 

been moved from place to place as his parent's convenience.   
  


"Oh Nathan, we have to find him and tell him what really happened" Kristen said on the 

verge of tears. She couldn't believe that she had said words that had wounded the one 

she loved.   
  


Wolfman looked about the room at the faces of the crew and knew that Lucas had indeed 

made a mistake about what they said. It didn't solve the problem though. Lucas was gone.   
  


"Where's Lucas now" Bridger asked with dread. Inwardly he was punishing himself to no 

end about the hurt and pain he was causing Lucas. He had always told Lucas that he loved 

him and somehow he thought the fact that he said the words meant that Lucas believed him. 

He didn't realize that every now and then he should also demonstrate it a little more with 

other ways than by talking.   
  


"I'm sorry about yelling, Captain" Nick said sheepishly. "I just heard what Lucas thought 

you said and got angry. He believed every word of it Captain. He thought that all you 

told him was lies just like his father had told him. As for knowing where he is, your guess 

is as good as mine. I don't think he knew himself when he left here. He just asked for a 

change of clothes and walked down the street. He said he had enough money of his own 

to survive for a few months. Said he wanted to find out what else was in life for Lucas 

Wolenczak."   
  


Bridger had to sit down to stop the hurt he was now feeling. He had driven the one person 

away who he needed to go on each day. The boy thought that he didn't want him anymore. 

He had driven Lucas away just like Robert.   
  


Commander Ford was the one who now took charge of the situation. He could see what 

Lucas's absence was doing to his superior officer. It was tearing the man apart from the 

inside out.   
  


"Captain, let's get out there and try and find him" Ford said. "The more time we waste, 

the further Lucas will get away from us."   
  


Bridger looked up at the dark skinned Commander. He had tears running down his 

face at the thought of losing Lucas. When he looked at Jonathan he could see that the 

man was taking the usual approach to problem. Jonathan was all military and took it from 

the book.   
  


Bridger stood up and gathered his composure "You're right Commander. Come on 

everybody lets formulate a plan for finding Lucas" he gave a handshake to Commander 

Ford for being there when he was most needed.   
  


Jonathan just nodded his head. Secretly he was very worried about what somebody like 

Lucas might do in his state of mind. Where would he go?   
  


While Lucas's friend and family were talking about him, Lucas riding on a bus towards 

Arizona.   
  


He didn't care where the bus said he was going. When it got far enough out of town 

he would walk.   
  


He would rest during the day in a motel or something. By night he intended to walk 

the long dusty roads towards his future. Where that was he didn't really know.   
  


The bus pulled up about 20 miles out of the city and he started walking. It was 

just before dawn, so the weather was still mild. He would be able to walk a few 

miles before stopping in a motel until the heat subsided at the end of the day.   
  


Today was the first day of the rest of his life.   
  
  
  
  
  


I KNOW IT'S NOT MUCH - LOTS MORE TO COME.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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	2. LEAVING

  
  
  
  
ON MY OWN   
  
  
  


For the next three or four hours, Lucas walked slowly along the deserted highway 

towards his unknown future.   
  


The weather was still mild this time of the morning. He was wearing his sneakers, 

but found out soon enough that the hard pavement of the bitumen road took their toll 

on your feet after a while.   
  


There was nothing to see except a great open vastness that was the Arizona landscape.   
  


He had only managed to walk a measly ten kilometres when he came across a small 

town on the side of the road. It was about mid morning now and the sun was beginning 

to heat up.   
  


The only buildings Lucas could see was a small general store with a gas pump out the 

front and a two room motel. Luckily for him there was one spare room available.   
  


The person at the counter had looked suspiciously at such a young person wanting a 

room this time of the day, but he took the $35.00 from the teenager and gave him the 

oversized key to room number 2.   
  


Before he went into the room, Lucas walked to the general store and bought himself 

a cold beef sandwich and a cold bottle of water.   
  


The key was a bit stiff in the lock at first, but with a hard twist and a small kick with 

his foot, the wooden door swung open. The room was quite dark until Lucas fumbled 

around and found the light switch. When he turned on the light it wasn't much better. 

The bulb was a yellowish colour and so that was the colour of the light that was given 

out into the room.   
  
  
  


There was no air-conditioning in the room. Only a small ceiling fan spun around 

on the lowest setting to circulate the stale and musty smelling air.   
  


There was no television, no radio and no telephone but being in a one horse town 

without the horse, beggars couldn't be choosers. Lucas took off his back pack and 

laid it on the small bedside table. The table was a bit rickety, with one leg propped 

up by a piece of cardboard.   
  


Lucas laid down on the bed's mattress. It was as hard as a rock. There was a smallish 

pillow, but it was falling apart and didn't do much to support his head and neck anyway.   
  


Lucas tried to close his eyes and go to sleep, but it didn't come easy. His heart was 

still very heavy from the thoughts of his friends and family.   
  


Even though he had told himself that he didn't care about them anymore, his heart 

told him different. He could still see their faces and hear their voices in happier times.   
  


He wondered how long he would have to carry around these memories before the hurt 

would begin to subside. It seemed to be a lot harder to do then when he had tried to 

forget about his parents. They hadn't cared so he didn't care. There were very 

few happy memories to forget about. It was the bad ones that seemed to linger on the 

longest.   
  


With Bridger and the SeaQuest crew it was different, he had been the one to care and 

he thought they had as well. They had told him that they did and up until now he had no reason to doubt them.   
  


Lucas couldn't stop the tears that fell down his face. He cried for quiet a while until the 

exhaustion from lack of sleep from the night before and the emotional strain that he was 

feeling took their toll. He finally cried himself to sleep and dreamt of nothing.   
  


Lucas slept for a long time. When he awoke it was almost sunset and the clouds in the 

sky had begun to turn a pinkish hue in the distance. Lucas returned his key to the 

reception desk and then purchased another two bottles of water from the general store 

before beginning walking along the highway again.   
  


The road was almost deserted tonight like it had been in the morning. Apart from 

the occasional truck, there was nothing on the road, not even a jack rabbit.   
  


About ten miles further down the road, Lucas stopped and sat on the edge of the 

road and sipped at one of the bottles of water. There was a slightly steep drop from 

the road to the table drain below. One of the occasional trucks passed a little too 

close for comfort this time. Not seeing the teenager in the dark.   
  


:Lucas had tried to jump back out of the way, but forgot about the incline of the 

roadway. He found himself tumbling backwards into the table drain and landing 

in an embarrassing heap on his rear. Thankfully this late at night there was nobody 

to laugh and make fun at his misfortune.   
  


Lucas grumbled as his bad luck and called himself a few unfriendly words to go 

with it. He attempted to get up and found that he had wrenched his left knee 

in the fall. It wasn't too bad and didn't prevent him walking, but there was a 

slight swelling to the area around his knee cap and it slowed him up somewhat 

from his already snail pace.   
  


Lucas started walking again, but only managed about half the distance he had 

walked from the motel before his knee was troubling him quite painfully.   
  


He saw a small service station ahead a few hundred meters. It had been the 

first building he had seen since the motel. He managed to hobble over to the 

service station and make his way to a tap on the side of the building.   
  


He twisted the tap on and rolled the leg of his trousers up to expose his 

swollen knee. He put his injured leg under the cascading water and let the 

coolness of the water ease the throb in his knee. He had been too carried 

away with the nice feeling the water gave to his leg to hear anybody approaching 

him from behind.   
  


He had lost track of time and didn't realize that he had stumbled across the 

service station at approximately 3.00 am. He forgot that good honest folk would 

probably be sleeping this time of night.   
  


He literally jumped three feet in the air and just about fainted on the spot at the 

sound of someone's voice behind him.   
  


"Who's there" the voice in the dark asked.   
  


"It's just me" Lucas said in a small voice. He could now see a small torch light 

in the darkness held by the stranger.   
  


The man and the light came closer and Lucas was able to make out a small 

shadowy figure by the torch light.   
  


The man walked forward a few steps and allowed himself to be shown in the dull 

torch light. He could see that the intruder was in fact a slightly built blond teenager.   
  


"Who are you" the man demanded in a gruff voice. "What are you doing here this 

time of night?"   
  


With the man now in view from the light he could see that the stranger waw holding onto 

something else in his other hand. The man could see the teenager looking intently at 

his other hand and what it held. He moved his hand slightly so that a sound was emitted 

loud enough to be heard.   
  


The sound was a chain of some description clinking together. As the chain clinked, it 

signalled something else to come out of the darkness where it had been standing. A dog.   
  


Lucas now took a few hasty steps back with his face paling at the sight of the huge 

vicious looking dog. It was a Rottweiler with big white teeth glaring back at him. 

Saliva dripped from the joules of the dog's mouth for emphasis. The first thing that came into 

Lucas's mind was an old classic movie about a Rottweiler dog that had gone crazy and killed 

people. Lucas's brain looked up the references to fierce dogs and came back with the name Cujo. 

Cujo, yeah that was it Lucas said to himself. He took another step back from the big dog 

just to be on the safe side.   
  


"Heel Mac" the man said with a firm voice. He could see that the teenager was frightened by 

the sight of the dog.   
  


MAC Lucas's mind said to himself. That didn't sound like a name for such a big dog. It 

wasn't macho sounding like Truck or Tiger. Lucas hadn't had much contact with dogs before. 

You didn't get to have too many pets on board a submarine. His parents had certainly 

never let him have any cute or cuddly pets during his childhood. The limited contact he 

had with dogs expanded only to the guard dogs that his parents kept on their estate to deter 

intruders.   
  


"Who are you and what are you doing out in the middle of nowhere like this all alone" the 

man now asked. "Where are your parents boy?"   
  


"I-I-I um was just using your tap to help ease my knee" Lucas said as he indicated 

his sore leg. The stranger could see that the knee did indeed look swollen and there 

was some motley coloured bruises to match.   
  


"You'd better some inside so we can take a look at it" the man said in a softer tone. 

He didn't like the idea of any teenager being out all alone in this neck of the woods.   
  


"We" Lucas said nervously as he noted the use of plural words.   
  


"My name is Bob, Bob Stevens. My wife Sandra and I run this Service Station. 

Have done for the past twenty years. But enough of that for the time being. I am sure 

Sandra will just love to fuss over you and look at your injured knee."   
  


Lucas was a little bit apprehensive about accepting this kind invitation, but at the 

moment, the only thing he was looking for was a nice soft bed. He gave a wan smile 

and started to walk after the man with the dog.   
  


"Sorry about startling you like that" Bob said as they walked towards the small house 

behind the service station. "Can't be too careful out here all alone at night time though. 

You never know what strange characters you likely to come across."   
  


Lucas nodded his head in agreement. There wasn't much to see in the landscape. A 

few scattered buildings , but mostly just vast open plains with a bitumen road dividing 

them right up the middle.   
  


"Sandra" Bob yelled as he guided Lucas through the back door of his humble home. 

"We've got a patient for you here to attend to. He's a young teenager I found outside. 

His knee needs some doctorin'"   
  


"What in the world" Sandra Stevens started to say as she stumbled out of her bedroom. 

She wondered why her husband Bob was yelling at such a hour in the middle of the night.   
  


She spotted the handsome young teenager that was limping slightly and she found herself 

falling straight into mother mode. Bob just smiled to himself as he saw the happy look 

on his wife at helping the injured teenager. As he suspected she was more than happy 

to fuss over him. She had guided him to the dark brown recliner in the living room and 

had his swollen knee propped up on a small stool with a cushion underneath it.   
  


It had been a long time since he had seen that happy look of motherhood on his wife. 

There own teenage son Gavin had run away when he wasn't much older then Lucas. 

They hadn't been able to find him since. They searched the entire country for about 

six months, but then they were given the devastating news by the police department that 

their son had been found beaten in some back alley for the few dollars he had in his wallet. 

Neither of them had time to say goodbye to their beloved son and it still weighed heavy 

on their heart, even today some five years later.   
  


"I don't want to be too much trouble" Lucas started to say, but Sandra held up her hand 

and told him just to sit there.   
  


"You're no trouble at all" Sandra said. She looked at the boy's tired eyes and noted that 

he probably could use something to eat and a place to sleep for the night. She found 

herself wondering the same question that her husband had asked when they were outside.   
  


"What's your name honey" Sandra said in a soft and caring voice. She could see the 

nervousness in the boy's body language and wondered what had happened to him to make 

him so apprehensive around other people.   
  


Lucas sat and thought for a moment before answering. He didn't want to lie directly to 

these nice people who had decided to help him out a little.   
  


"Lucas, Lucas Smith" he told them. At least the first name was right. He didn't think 

they would believe a completely phony name.   
  


Sandra looked at the boy as he spoke and told herself that this wasn't the boy's real name. 

For some reason he was trying to hide his true identity, but for now, this late at night, she 

was willing to wait until another time to talk to him about his deception.   
  


"Well Lucas SMITH" she said "Would you like something to eat while I take a look at 

this knee?"   
  


Lucas nodded his gratefulness and gave her a warm smile to match for thanks.   
  


Sandra sent Bob into the kitchen while she went about looking at his knee. She rolled the 

leg of his jeans up and tried to probe the bruised skin as gently as possible without hurting 

him anymore. She could hear the whistles clenched between his teeth from the pain he 

felt, but he never uttered a complaint.   
  


Bob walked back into the living room from the kitchen with a cold beef sandwich. It was 

the only thing he could rustle up this late at night. He had smothered the meat in pickles 

and hoped it would be sufficient for his young guest.   
  


Lucas gave the same smile of thanks to Bob as he was handed the plate of sandwiches. 

He didn't realize how hungry he was until the food was put in front of him and the delicious 

aroma wafted up to his nose.   
  


"You wait right there and finish that sandwich while I get some bandages and salve for that 

knee" Sandra said as he gently patted his leg while she got up. "Bob, you go and find a 

towel and place some chipped up ice into it. I'll wrap the knee with the ice and try to reduce 

some of that swelling."   
  


Sandra and Bob left the teenager alone for a few minutes to gather the items they needed. 

Bob went into the ice chest in the kitchen and crushed some ice in a towel. Sandra had 

gone to the bathroom and gathered the salve and the bandage. They both arrived back 

in the living room about the same time.   
  


They both chuckled together at the sight before them. With his body now stopped from 

the constant moving about, it didn't take Lucas long to succumb to this tiredness. 

The corn beef sandwich was still clasped in his two hands, there was a small bite missing 

from the middle of the triangular piece of bread. His hands had not relaxed sufficiently 

to let the sandwich fall back onto the plate on his lap.   
  


The boy was sound asleep. His head was bowed slightly as nestled in the padding of the 

recliner. His injured knee was still on the stool. His features were calm and peaceful.   
  


"What do we do with him now?" Bob asked Sandra in a quiet voice so as not to disturb 

the sleeping youth.   
  


"Well" and she thought for a moment "I know of an empty bed at the moment" she left 

the sentenced unfinished and hoped that the pleading look in her eyes would be enough to 

portray her thoughts to her husband.   
  


Bob saw the look and knew exactly which bed his wife was talking about. It was their 

son's Gavin. When Gavin had gone missing, both of them could barely stand to go into 

the room without feeling remorse and guilty about the boy's sudden disappearance. 

Now his wife was suggesting that they place this almost complete stranger into their 

son's bed. The boy looked innocent and harmless enough. Something told him that this 

boy had family somewhere who were out looking for him too.   
  


"You go and make the bed up love" Bob said with a smile. "I carry him in. We can 

tend to that knee in the morning. It might do it some good to actually rest on a bed 

for the night. The rest might ease the swelling by that time."   
  


Sandra left the room with her heart a glow. She finally had somebody to fuss over again. 

Sometimes she felt that she had coddled Gavin too much and that was what drove him 

away in the end, but looking at this sleeping boy's face, she couldn't help but wonder 

why he was all alone. Why wouldn't he tell them his real name?. Where was he headed? 

Where were his family and friends?   
  
  
  
  
  


Lucas let out a small whimper in his sleep when Bob Stevens lifted him out of the recliner. 

The boy was thin, maybe too thin for his age. He was careful not to jostle the knee to 

much and cause any more discomfort. When he entered the room, it was already for its 

new occupant. Lucas didn't stir at all when his head was gently laid on the soft white 

pillowcase.   
  


Bob straightened Lucas's legs as much as possible, but could feel the puffiness even 

under the denim fabric of his knee. He wondered if they should get a doctor to look 

at the boy. They would have to wait until morning for that anyway. The nearest 

doctor or hospital was some forty minutes drive east of here.   
  


Sandra tucked a sheet around the boy's sleeping figure and a thin blanket. She 

brushed the blond hair off his forehead that had fallen over his eyes. The boy gave 

a content sigh and rolled slightly on his side and continued his restful pose.   
  


Sandra and Bob Stevens left the young man alone in the room to sleep in peace. 

For the first time in a long time, they felt that they were needed again. Their own 

sleep might be just as restful tonight.   
  


******************************************************************   
  


While Lucas was sleeping sounding that night, there was a very different scene being 

played out at Bridger's house on the island.   
  


The place was a hive of activity with people formed into three and four small search 

groups ready to head out and start looking for the missing teenager.   
  


Commander Ford seemed to be the one in control of everybody at the moment. 

He was standing in the centre of the room with both hands stretched out as he barreled 

full ahead into his speech about what the different search parties were supposed to be 

doing and where their designated search areas were.   
  


Captain Nathan Bridger and Kristen had been busy together with most of the other 

senior crew members, trying to put an advertising campaign together suitable to broadcast 

over the television. 

Hopefully the media attention for the missing boy would prompt somebody to phone in and say 

they had seen him in the last few hours. They also intended a similar barrage on the newspapers. 

They had a series of the most recent photo's they could find of Lucas.   
  


Bridger had been lost in his own world for a short time. He held the photos of the missing 

boy in his hands and felt the quiet but constant building of remorse and guilt. It was 

his words that had driven the teenager away. It was his words that had hurt him. Now 

it was up to him to find him and bring him home again. Firstly they had to find out where 

he had gone and then he had to somehow explain to Lucas that everybody still loved him 

and needed him to be alright.   
  


He had told the television station and the newspapers that he was offering a $100 000 

reward for anybody who could supply information that would be successful enough 

to lead them to Lucas. He would spend more if it warranted so later on. He was 

determined to do whatever it took to find the one he had lost.   
  


The search parties would move out in another hour's time. They didn't have much 

to go on, but it was better than nothing. Most of the people involved were actually 

crew members from the SeaQuest and they needed to feel as though they were doing 

something.   
  


Commander Ford had thought it best that the Captain and Kristen remain close 

to home in case the teenager rang or came back home on his own. It was very unlikely, 

but the possibility needed to be accounted for. Krieg and the other senior crew 

members would be the ones to deliver the advertising campaigns to the newspaper 

printers and the television stations. They all had their roles to perform.   
  


*******************************************************************   
  


DON'T WORRY PEOPLE - THE BAD THINGS ARE ABOUT TO COME -   
  


JULES 


	3. WHERE ARE YOU?

I HAVE EDITED CHAPTER 2 NOW - SO IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN BACK 

IN TO READ THAT - GO DO THAT NOW BEFORE READING THIS PART.   
  
ON MY OWN   
  
  
  


The next morning, Lucas awoke from a very deep sleep. From the light that was 

shining through the thin curtains in the windows, he assumed that it must be at least 

9.00 a.m.   
  


He sat up and tried to rub away the tiredness that had been looming over him the last 

couple of days. He then swung his legs over the edge of the single bed and looked 

about the room he had been staying in. The last thing he remembered from the night 

before was being given a corn beef sandwich. Everything after that was a complete 

blur. He didn't even know how he found himself to be in a bed, but he had a pretty 

good idea.   
  


He tried to stand up and walk out to see where his two hosts were. When his leg 

hit the floor, a jolt of pain coursed its way through his leg from his still painful knee. 

He gasped out a little too loud and now heard hurried footsteps coming towards 

the closed door.   
  


"Good Morning Sleepyhead" Sandra greeted him and then saw the expression of 

pain on his face that said his knee was still troubling him.   
  


"Are you alright?" she now asked as she approached him trying to get a look at 

the protesting knee.   
  


"I'm alright, still smarts a little that's all" Lucas replied sheepishly. He was trying 

to suppress as much of the pain as possible. He didn't want these people to worry 

too much over him. They had already gone to too much trouble for him.   
  


"Well, if your sure" Sandra said still eyeing him with suspicion. "There's a nice 

lunch ready for you out on the table when your ready."   
  
  
  


"Lunch?" Lucas said incredulously. He really didn't think he had slept that late.   
  


Sandra smiled at the teenager's lost of time due to his tiredness. "It's ten minutes 

past twelve midday" she announced and left him to follow her out to the kitchen.   
  


Lucas limped his way into the kitchen and managed to sit down at the small four 

person table while Sandra's back was to him. He was surprised and a little scared 

to see the giant Rottweiler dog asleep in the corner of the room nearest the door.   
  


Sandra looked back at the teenager sitting at the table and saw his worried glances 

towards the dog at the door. :"Don't pay him any attention. Biggest sook you ever 

met for a dog" she said trying to ease his fears.   
  


As if on cue, the dog now looked up at the sense of another person being in the room 

and he got up and began walking over to the table towards Lucas. The teenager 

was ready to make a hasty retreat if necessary when he felt the biggest wet tongue 

on his hand offering a truce.   
  


"YUK" he exclaimed at the greeting he received "That's disgusting" he said in mock 

disgust to the animal.   
  


"Where's Bob this morning, if you don't mind me asking?" Lucas now said to Sandra. 

Sandra walked over to the table and placed a large plate of cold meat and salad in front 

of the teenager "He's out in the garage working, should be back for lunch any minute now."   
  


And then the two of them saw an excited MAC head to the door in anticipation os his master 

coming in. The dog wasn't to be disappointed as they could both hear the footsteps of 

Bob Stevens approaching the screened door.   
  


"Well, look who finally decided to get up for the day" Bob said with a grin. He wasn't 

cross. He knew that the boy had shown all the signs of needing extra sleep last night.   
  


"Good Morning Bob" Lucas said in a cheery voice.   
  
  
  


"How's that leg of your?" Bob asked as he took his place at the table. Mac settled 

underneath his master's chair and went back to sleep.   
  


"Still a little stiff but should be right to be on my way again by tomorrow" Lucas replied.   
  


Bob had been watching his wife's face when Lucas mentioned about leaving. He saw 

how her smiled turned into sorrow. She had become attached to the young man in only 

a matter of a few hours. It would break her heart all over again when Lucas left to go 

on his way.   
  


"Do you have to be leaving so soon?" Bob asked.   
  


"I've already probably stayed too long. I can't impose on you people any more. I 

wanted to ask you about helping out in the garage this afternoon and tomorrow as well 

to help pay for my lodgings." Lucas answered.   
  


"You don't have to pay anything for staying here Lucas" Sandra now said. "We'd 

only to too happy for you to help out in the garage. You can stay as long as you 

like." she added, hopefully trying to change his mind.   
  


"No sorry, have to meet a friend a bit further down the road after tomorrow." Lucas 

lied. He felt that he couldn't stay in any one place for any longer than necessary at 

the moment. When he got to the next big town, he would attempt to find a job 

and earn some money for himself.   
  


"Well, we can talk about that more later," Bob said as he put his knife and fork back 

onto the empty table, "Come on young fellow, let's go out to the garage." 

He gave his wife a slight glance as Lucas was gingerly getting up from the table. Hopefully 

if he could get the kid interested in the work he did in the garage,   
  


It was soon apparent to Bob Stevens that his young temporary employee had rarely 

seen underneath the hood of a car. Where as he expected most young men to be completely 

in love with the revving of a powerful motor, it seemed that other secret passions held 

this boy's attention.   
  


"Okay Lucas, this is where you.........." Bob started to explain. He felt like he was teaching 

his own son Gavin all over again, but he didn't mind. He felt a connection with his young 

man. Before he could get any further, they both looked up at the sound of somebody 

pulling up at the petrol pump outside.   
  


"I'll handle this one" Lucas said with a grin on his face. This was his very first paying 

customer and he wanted to make a good impression in front of Bob.   
  


Lucas walked out towards the expensive looking car parking underneath the garage 

awning. A man in a three piece business suit was getting out of the driver's side 

and gave the approaching young attendant a stern look.   
  


"Can I help you Sir" Lucas asked in a polite voice. He had seen the man looking him 

up and down and saw that the man was not impressed with someone so young being 

given the task of touching his pride and joy. He tried to ignore the man's piercing stares. 

"Yes you can young man" the man snapped "I'm in a hurry, but I need this car filled up 

and taken care of. Make sure you only use unleaded fuel and I want those windows 

crystal clear, understand?"   
  


"Yes Sir" Lucas said trying not to let the man's rudeness get the better of him.   
  


"Stand up straight when I talk to you sonny" the man barked back at Lucas's slouched 

posture. Lucas found himself reluctantly obeying, but he didn't like the way the man 

called him sonny.   
  


Lucas filled up the man's car and went about cleaning the windows. The man had 

inspected his work on three separate occasions and told him on the last one that his 

less than capable effort would have to do. He was in a hurry and didn't have time 

to dilly dally around with young pups that didn't have any business working in jobs 

that didn't suit them.   
  


"Now make sure that there's enough air in those tyres and I suppose that will have 

to do for today. You had better smarten your act sonny if you expect to last long 

at any job. If you worked for me, you'd already be out on your ear." the man said 

with disinterest in his voice.   
  


Bob Stevens had been watching the whole scene played out and while he had been 

happy to see how Lucas handled a difficult customer at first. With the man now 

outright shouting at him, he needed to intervene before the kid blew a fuse and 

decked the guy. He had thought Lucas's efforts were adequate for a person who 

had not had much to do with car's before.   
  


"How bout you go back in the garage and carry on in there Lucas" Bob said as 

he walked towards the businessman. He thought he would see a scowl or a 

look of anger on the teenager's face as he walked away. But he saw something 

entirely different.   
  


True, Lucas had been angry at first when the man had kept shouting at him and 

poking fun at his genuine efforts at doing his job. Now, while he walked away, 

the only feeling he showed on his face was one of failure. It had been his first 

chance to show somebody that he could do something else other than type on 

a computer keyboard and he blew it big time.   
  


Bob had accepted the man's money and watched him as he drove away. 

He now turned back and saw the dejected teenager sitting on a pile of new tyres, 

looking sad and sorry for himself.   
  


"Don't take it so hard Lucas" Bob said as he tried to smooth things over. "Once in 

a while you meet jerks like that. You just gotta learn to brush their comments 

off and take them with a grain of salt. I am sure that the next one won't be so 

bad."   
  


Lucas looked up into Bob's smiling face and was grateful that he at least believed 

in him. "It's just that things to do with cars is so new to me. Where I live, there 

isn't much call to fill up your petrol tank or fill your tyres with air." He said the 

words and them immediately knew that he had let a little about his past slip out 

without realizing it.   
  


Bob had heard the words and knew that the boy hadn't meant to reveal that much 

about his past just yet. He didn't push the boy to elaborate either. That would 

just make him curl into his shell even more.   
  


Another car pulled up to the petrol pumps "Here's your next customer Lucas" 

Bob said cheerily.   
  


Lucas gingerly got up from his temporary chair and started walking towards the 

red station wagon. Bob noticed as he watched from behind that the boy was 

still favouring his left leg some what. He would make the kid take it easier after 

this one. His leg must still be very tender and getting up and down all of the time 

wasn't going to help it get any better.   
  


"Can I help you Madam" Lucas asked again, with politeness in his voice. The woman 

getting out of the car just looked at him and them started shouting back to the three 

kids in the back to settle down.   
  


"You can fill up my car and be quick about it young man" she snapped and then turned 

again to the youngsters in the car and shouted at them again.   
  


Not again Lucas thought to himself as he groaned and rolled his eyes at the situation 

before him. He couldn't be this unlucky could he. Two bad customers within the space of an 

hour. This job really had its perks.   
  


He could hear a slight chuckle from Bob behind him but gave the man a scowl when he 

turned in his direction. Bob pretended to go back to his work but still watched the amusement 

out of the corner of his eye and laughed again at the boy's poor misfortune.   
  


One of the children got out and demanded that he needed to go to the bathroom NOW. And 

he meant now. He tried to push his way past between his over sized mother and Lucas who 

was manning the pump. Without realizing it, the young boy stood painfully on Lucas's 

left foot, sending a sharp pain up his leg and into his swollen knee.   
  


"Little Bastard" Lucas said through clenched teeth as he tried to wave out the wave of 

pain in his leg. But unfortunately for Lucas, the woman had been close enough to hear his 

unsavoury comments towards her son.   
  
  
  
  
  


Lucas looked up and saw the woman glaring back at him. He tried mumbling his apologies 

and tried to tell the woman that he really hadn't meant what he had said. But the woman 

was determined to let this young man know that she was unhappy. She began whacking 

Lucas with her large and heavy hand bag across the shoulders and chest area.   
  


By now Lucas had backed away from the pumps and had to put his hands up to try and 

deflect the blows from the woman's purse. He received a few good whacks that stung 

a bit before Bob again intervened and took over from Lucas.   
  


It was at this point in his short but memorable career as a driveway attendant what Lucas 

decided that this was definitely not the job for him.   
  


He had limped back over to the tyres and sat down, trying to massage away the ache 

that prevailed. Bob walked over to him after the woman and her kids had departed 

and saw the grimace of hurt on the teenager's face.   
  


Bob helped him to stand and Lucas leaned on the man a little as they walked back 

into the kitchen.   
  


Sandra leapt into action when she saw that Lucas was limping again. This time 

she was determined to get some ice onto his injured knee.   
  


Lucas was set up in the living room again with the stool and a towel full of ice 

chips wrapped securely around his leg.   
  


Sandra had tried to scold Bob about not watching out for the teenager enough 

when he told her about the two customers Lucas had encountered during the 

afternoon. She wasn't really angry at him or Lucas, but she let her worry for 

the teenager show through harsh words instead.   
  


Later that evening, when all three of them were trying to watch television, 

Lucas was trying to get the courage to ask his two new friends a favour.   
  
  
  
  
  


He really needed to convince himself that his family still didn't want him. 

The events of the last two days had taken their toll both physically and emotionally 

and he felt that he needed some of that T.L.C. that had always been on offer back 

home. He needed to try and call Bridger and Kristen back at the island.   
  


"Um Sandra," he began nervously, "Could I please use your phone to make a call?"   
  


Sandra looked briefly at Bob and knew that the teenager was uneasy about asking 

this question for some reason. "Sure Lucas, we don't mind. Phone's in the hall. 

Do you know the number of who you want to call" she said trying to pry just a little.   
  


"Yeah, I want to try and call that friend and arrange to meet him tomorrow night 

after I leave here" Lucas lied. It sounded like a good enough story for the time 

being.   
  


Lucas took the damp towel off from around his leg and carefully walked into the 

hall and spotted a small wooden desk against the wall. A black coloured touch 

button phone sat on top of it.   
  


Bob and Sandra couldn't see what he was doing from the living room, but he 

looked around nervously every few seconds just to make sure that nobody could 

see what he was doing or have the chance to overhear any conversation.   
  


He picked up the receiver and then quickly put it down again. A rubbed the 

clamminess away from the palm of his hand on his jeans and picked up the receiver 

again.   
  


His mind was telling him the number to dial, but his brain wasn't quite with him at 

the moment and he needed to listen to his own instructions twice to get the right 

sequence of numbers to dial.   
  


555 6437 he said to himself as he pressed the correct numbers on the phone. 

The was a brief pause before the phone at the other end began to ring.   
  
  
  


Back on the island, Kristen was sitting in the living room when the telephone rang. 

It startled her at first as she had been lost in her own thoughts for a minute. 

Bridger and the rest of the search parties were still out looking for the missing 

teenager. She had agreed to stay behind in case they rang her with information 

or by any such miracle, Lucas might phone home.   
  


The phone had rung three times before she got to it. She picked up the receiver 

at her end and spoke into the mouthpiece "Hello" she said. There was nothing 

but silence on the end of the line.   
  


Lucas could hear Kristen saying 'Hello' on the other end. His mouth was suddenly 

very dry and he couldn't find any words to answer back.   
  


Kristen thought the silence on the other end of the phone was strange and almost 

put it down to a prank caller. She then said Hello again and waited for any 

response. Something told her that this wasn't a prank call at all. Somehow 

it was the call that they all had been waiting for.   
  


"Lucas is that you............" she asked, desperately waiting for an answer to come back.   
  


Without waiting any further, Lucas then hung up at his end. He had tears welling 

in his eyes as he put the phone down. He didn't know the words to say.   
  


Lucas had walked back along the hallway and instead of returning to the living room, 

he had gone into his temporary bedroom and closed the door.   
  


Bob and Sandra had exchanged worried looks when they saw the teenager walked into 

his room. They had spied the upset look on his face. They both went to the closed 

door and tried to listen for anything on the other side.   
  


Lucas had thrown himself onto the bed and now cried into his pillow. He felt so 

alone at the moment. His heart was telling him to call home but his mind kept 

echoing the words he had heard that night over and over again.   
  
  
  


There's no place for him on SeaQuest. his brain told him. That's what they had 

said, wasn't it. He desperately wanted to believe that they hadn't said those 

words. He would give anything to get them to take him back again and love him 

like before. Love him for just who he was, Lucas Wolenczak.   
  


THE INTERESTING BITS ARE YET TO COME - SOME BADDIES WILL START 

TO COME INTO THE PICTURE SHORTLY - I PROMISE.   
  
  
  



	4. IN BAD COMPANY

ON MY OWN   
  
  
  


The next morning when the Stevens awoke, they were surprised to see the Lucas's 

bedroom door already open. It was very early and their first thoughts were ones 

of fear that the teenager had already fled without so much as a goodbye.   
  


Their fears were relieved a little when they walked out the back door and spotted 

Lucas sitting down on the concrete driveway, talking and patting to MAC. 

The dog seemed to be lapping up the attention and he showed his appreciation with 

a few stray wet licks towards Lucas's face.   
  


The Stevens's had laughed silently as they watched the antics of the huge playful 

dog and the teenager. On a few occasions, Lucas had been successful at ducking 

and avoiding the wet tongue that came his way, but on one such occasion he was 

to slow and received a very sloppy greeting from the dog.   
  


Lucas face immediately turned into a scowl of disgust as he wiped his face on 

the sleeve of his t-shirt. He could be heard to say a few stern words towards the 

dog about what would happen if he did it again. The dog took Lucas's chastisement 

as another invitation and without warning, planted another very wet lick on the 

boy's face.   
  


Sandra and Bob could barely contain their laughter and their muffled giggled made 

the teenager turn around at the sound. He smiled back with he saw the mirth in their 

eyes at the dog's affection towards the teenager. Up to now, the dog had only shown 

such playfulness towards his master Bob. Somehow, this teenager that had only been 

in the place for a day or so had charmed the big dog's heart and made him a faithful 

companion.   
  


This morning when Lucas joined his newly made friends at the breakfast table, MAC 

settled himself under Lucas's chair instead of Bob's.   
  


"Looks like you've made a new friend" Bob joked with the teenager.   
  


Lucas had returned the false grin but inwardly wondered if it was his destiny to only 

have animal friends for companions. Lord knows that the human kind had let him down 

often enough in the past.   
  


"Want to help out on the petrol pumps again today Lucas?" Bob asked the teenager. 

Since last night, the teenager had withdrawn back into himself again. Bob hoped 

that even though the job wasn't the greatest in the world, maybe it would make the 

teenager stay, only for a little while. This would make him and his wife Sandra very 

happy.   
  


"Sure, if you want me to?" Lucas replied. He liked working with Bob. The man 

was very easy to talk to. Very casual and good natured. Almost like Captain Bridger 

sometimes. Lucas admonished himself silently and told him that he needed to keep 

himself busy to forget about his past. But somehow, those memories of the past kept 

creeping back in.   
  


"Can't be any worse than yesterday" Bob said with a grin.   
  


"I'm gonna hold you to that" Lucas replied as they got up from the table and headed 

out to the garage. Mac became awake at the sound of the two of them leaving and 

quickly followed behind.   
  


The first few customers in the morning had been quite pleasant for Lucas. He was 

actually beginning to enjoy the job. It wasn't until one of the last customers for the 

afternoon that made him feel like he was utterly useless again.   
  


Bob and Lucas had heard the car coming before they saw it. It was an old beat 

up Cadillac with a hard roof. There was paint missing in a few places and the 

windows looked as though they hadn't been cleaned in five years of dust storms.   
  


The car came into the driveway at a speed. When it pulled up, it let out a loud 

screech from the back brakes, signalling that they needed to be replaced. The driver 

at the wheel had honked the horn loudly and after a few seconds of no response, 

did it again for longer.   
  


Lucas could see problem written all over this vehicle before he even got within ten 

feet. He tried to put on his best smile and walked around to the driver's side and 

greeted the short rough looking man with the words "Can I help you Sir". The words 

didn't seem to fit the customer though. The man looked anything but a SIR.   
  


"SIR" the man said with a sarcastic tone. "Now Biff, that's a title that fits me just 

right" he said to his friend seated in the passenger seat of the Cadillac.   
  


From where he was standing, Lucas got a look at both men and had to hide the laugh 

that was welling up inside him at the vast differences between the two travelling companions.   
  


The passenger got out of the vehicle and now stood next to his friend. The first names 

that popped into Lucas's head at seeing them standing side by side was ROCKY and 

BULLWINKLE.   
  


The driver looked like ROCKY with his short stature and his beady little eyes that 

looked out of the dark glasses. Just like the squirrel from the cartoon show on television. 

He looked like the smartest one of the two of them but that wasn't saying much.   
  


The passenger, with his somewhat larger frame, almost double his partner, would be 

threatening in the wrong situation. But now looking at him close up, he could see that 

his almost had this child like quality as well. Big and Dumb to match were the first 

impressions.   
  


Lucas could see the two men looking him up and down and snickering at his shaggy 

blond hair and his baggy clothes that hung loosely on his thin frame.   
  


"You know, for somebody who looks like a reject from the college fraternity, you've 

got yourself some manners kid" the first man now said to Lucas.   
  


"Would you like me to fill up your tank?" Lucas said now embarrassed about the 

comment about his manners. He wished he could have just told them to rack off before 

they even had gotten out of the car, but this was a job he was trying to do well at and he 

couldn't afford to shirk his duty no matter what sort of Riff Raff the place attracted.   
  


"Yeah and would you take a look at the radiator there too" the man said "It's been 

getting hot all day and I need somebody to take a look at it."   
  


Lucas had placed the nozzle of the pump into the opening in the tank and while it was 

filling up, he had tried to look under the bonnet of the car and look at least like he might 

have an idea about cars.   
  


It soon became apparent to Lucas, but also to the two men that the teenager had little 

or no knowledge about the internal workings of a motor vehicle's engine.   
  


"Look's like it's real hard to get good help around these days Biff" the first man said 

sarcastically.   
  


"Yeah Danny" Biff had replied. At least now Lucas knew the first man's name. 

He was getting frustrated about the man's snide comments towards him and he tried 

his best to ignore them, but the feelings of self doubt and failure from the previous 

day began to creep in again.   
  


"I'll go get the owner for you, he might be able to help some more" Lucas tried to 

say without shouting at them to shut the hell up. This was his first real job. He couldn't 

be expected to know everything after the first day.   
  


"Better go and run back to your mother little boy" Danny now shouted after the teenager. 

"You should leave the big toys to the big boys."   
  


Lucas just walked past Bob in a huff and grumbled some inaudible profanities as he 

headed towards the back door with his head hung low. He had been shot down in flames 

again by a less than polite customer and it was beginning to take a toll on his nerves.   
  


When they drove away a few minutes later, still with their busted radiator, they were 

unknowingly headed towards the same motel room a few miles down the road that 

Lucas had stayed in a few nights ago. They had no idea at this stage that their paths 

would soon cross again.   
  
  
  


It was about this time that no matter what other things awaited him down the road over 

the coming weeks and months, Lucas had decided that being a Service Station Attendant 

was not the job for him. He dearly wanted to help out Bob and Sandra and repay them 

for their kindness, but he had made up his mind that tonight he would start back on his 

way to his new future again.   
  


Around the dinner table that night, Sandra and Bob tried to think of every trick in the 

book to try and get the depressed teenager to stay. They hoped that even if they could 

convince him to stay one more night then they would be able to formulate a new plan 

tomorrow.   
  


Sandra was on the verge of tears when Lucas went into his temporary room and gathered 

together his few measly belongings and stuffed them into Wolfman's borrowed backpack.   
  


"You really don't have to go right now do you" Sandra asked, trying to hide her tears 

and knowing that she was grasping at straws to find an excuse to get Lucas to stay.   
  


"Yeah, I'm afraid I do" Lucas said trying to hide his own feelings inside. He knew 

that if he stayed any longer, he would start to become attached to these people. Just 

like he had become attached to the people and family aboard the SeaQuest. His heart 

still hadn't even begun to recover from that blow and he didn't want to take the chance 

and start becoming close again. Part of him wanted to stay, maybe for a good while 

to come in the future, but another part of him spoke sternly to himself and told him 

about what happened last time he let somebody love him. It had happened too many 

times in the past not to take notice of.   
  


"I'm sorry, but it has to be this way" Lucas said. He gave Sandra and awkward 

embrace and Bob a hearty handshake. He looked down at MAC who was giving 

him the sad puppy dog eyes look. He grinned at even the dog's attempts to get 

him to stay. He gave the black dog a brief pat and started walking towards the back 

door.   
  


"Lucas, you really shouldn't be walking these roads at night time on your own" Bob 

said as he followed the teenager out the door. It was the father figure in him that 

was emerging and trying to protect the teenager from the fear of the unknown. 

"You're knee still hasn't healed properly Lucas" he added. 

"I'll be fine" Lucas said. He wanted so badly to turn back and let himself be taken 

in by these two new friends, but he just couldn't. His leg was beginning to ache already, 

that was true, but he just couldn't.   
  


"You'll always have a place to stay, if things don't work out Lucas" Bob said finally. 

"You're welcome anytime. You take care of yourself now you hear." He had to 

accept the fact that the teenager was determined to walk out of their lives. For a brief 

shining moment, Lucas had begun to stir feelings in him and Sandra that they hadn't 

felt since loosing their son Gavin. They would give anything to let those feelings 

continue on a little longer.   
  


Lucas nodded and flashed his best smile at them and turned his head away and 

started to walk down the road before they could see the tears that were running 

down his face.   
  


*******************************************************************   
  


Later that evening, in the living room, Sandra and Bob had sat down to watch the 

news together on the t.v. and try and console each other after Lucas's departure. 

There was an ad and then before the news reader continued with the day's events, 

he announced an important broadcast.   
  


"Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls" the reporter began "This station has been 

asked to display the image of a missing teenage boy. The boy has ben missing 

for almost a week now and his family and friends are desperately trying to seek out 

any information on his whereabouts."   
  


Sandra and Bob looked at each other and both had the fear of dread that they already 

knew the identity of the missing teenager before they even announced his name. The 

both turned back anxiously towards the t.v. and watched another figure appear in 

front of the screen.   
  
  
  
  
  


There were two people who appeared on the screen actually. One was a distinguished 

looking gentleman of middle age. He had on an official looking military uniform of 

some description. His posture and face however told the audience that he had not 

slept in many days and his emotions were getting the better of him. The other person 

was a women. With fire red hair, she was of a similar age to the man, maybe a few 

years younger. She also had a official looking uniform on in the form of a pair of 

sky blue coveralls. Sandra and Bob could see the uniforms displayed a patch on 

the front of them bearing the initials U.E.O.   
  


"Ladies and Gentlemen" the silver haired man started "My name is Captain Nathan 

Hale Bridger. This is my colleague and close friend Doctor Kristen Westphalen. 

We are both members of the United Earth Oceans Naval submarine, the SeaQuest."   
  


This introduction at least confirmed why they both were wearing military uniforms.   
  


"Approximately four days ago, a young member of our crew suddenly disappeared. 

Up until now we have not been able to contact him or locate his whereabouts. We 

think he might be reluctant to come back, he might even be sick or injured. We are 

asking everyone out there to keep an eye out for him, and if anybody has seen him 

over the past few days, for them to contact us immediately on the number displayed 

on your screen." Bridger spoke into the microphone.   
  


"We are offering a $100 000 reward for any information leading to us being able to 

locate and find this missing boy. His family and friends miss him very much and 

want him home more than we can say." Kristen now added.   
  


"His name is Lucas Wolenczak" Bridger stated "In a few seconds, we will display a 

photograph of him to try and trigger people's memories that might have seen him. 

At the moment he has no known mode of transportation and we have grave concerns 

for his safety."   
  


"Please, if you have any information, no matter how trivial or how limited the details 

might be, please phone. We are waiting for you call. Don't forget to have a good look 

at the photo to refresh your memories. Thank you and now you will be returned to 

your regular programs."   
  


Suddenly the photograph of the mysterious missing teenager was displayed for all to 

see. Bob and Sandra knew their fears had been confirmed as they saw the smiling 

face of their young friend on the screen. He had been here only a few hours ago.   
  


Sandra told herself that she had known the boy wasn't telling her the truth about his 

real name. Now, she just wanted to get in contact with these people and let them 

know that he was alright. She didn't know how she was going to tell them that 

he was gone again, but it might be a start. He couldn't have gotten too far just yet, 

in such a short space of time. These people sounded very distressed about his 

being missing. They must really love him and miss him. She wondered what had 

made the boy leave such a loving family in the first place.   
  


While Lucas walked along the dark and deserted road again at his snail pace, while 

Sandra and Bob and the rest of t.v. land watched his picture being displayed on their 

t.v. screens, two other men in a motel room had also been watching the report and 

saw the photograph of the missing boy.   
  


Both of them recognized the smiling teenager's face, but the thing that caught their 

attention the most was the money offered for information leading to his return. They 

both looked at each other with dollar signs in their eyes and grinned devilishly. 

They got into their vehicle and started driving back towards the service station.   
  


"Just think Biff" Danny began "If these people are willing to pay a hundred grand 

for information about him, think what they would give for his safe return. I see this 

as a blessing and an opportunity to help that poor lost boy out and return him to his 

family, don't you?" he said with a laugh.   
  


"Yeah, Danny, but that don't mean they get him back straight away do it?" Biff said 

as he realised that his partner was preparing to actually kidnap the teenager and hold 

him for ransom.   
  


"Only after they add another zero to that figure" Danny said as his brain ticked over 

with a scheme. "Biff, take a look in that glove compartment for me would Ya"   
  
  
  


Biff leant forward and opened the beaten up glove compartment, the only thing that 

could be seen straight away was a few unpaid traffic tickets. It was only until Biff 

reached his hand in and started moving it about inside that his hand came to rest on 

a completely different item altogether.   
  


He pulled it out and saw that it was a small brown bottle without a label. "What's 

inside Danny?" he asked without opening the contents.   
  


"Just get your hanky out and hide them in your pocket until I say so" Danny replied 

"It's just something to keep him quiet. Once we get him, we don't want him yelling 

for help before we make arrangements for them to drop the money off somewhere."   
  


Back at the Service Station, Sandra was dialing the number she and Bob had seen 

displayed on the screen. She waited nervously for someone to pick up the phone 

at the other end.   
  


"Hello" Sandra said as a voice appeared on the other end of the line. "I want to 

speak to that lady and that man about the missing boy Lucas" she said too fast.   
  


"Hold a minute please" was the response and Sandra heard the person at the other 

end put the phone down briefly.   
  


"Doctor Kristen Westphalen" Kristen said as she picked up the phone.   
  


"Hello, you don't know me but my name is Sandra Stevens. I was just watching 

your broadcast about the missing boy Lucas. I wanted to get in contact with you 

and tell you that we have seen him."   
  


"Where and When" Kristen said. She thought she heard some harshness in her 

voice at this person trying to help, but the caller didn't seem to notice.   
  


"He came here two days ago and has been staying with us and helping us out 

in our small garage. He only left tonight. We tried to get him to stay longer, but 

he said he needed to go. I just hope that he's okay, especially with that injured 

knee of his." Sandra didn't realise that not everybody knew about the teenager's 

injury.   
  


"How did he hurt his knee" Kristen said with concern. She was busy trying to keep 

Nathan from getting to the caller on the other end and barraging them with questions. 

She tried to convey everything Sandra was saying to Nathan as calmly as possible. 

It wasn't working though, Nathan was hanging on every word as Kristen spoke.   
  


"Don't know, he turned up here in the middle of the night. Bob went out to investigate 

a noise outside and nearly scared him to death. We told him to stay the night and 

then said he could stay as long as he liked, but he told us he had to go and meet a friend." 

I wish I could tell you some more."   
  


"You've already been most helpful" Kristen assured the woman. "How long ago did he leave?"   
  


"Only about two hours ago, and that knee of his slows him up some. We could go in our car 

and look for him if you'd like." Sandra suggested.   
  


"No, that won't be necessary. What I need you to do is stay there, if you don't mind. If he 

is injured, he might not get very far at all and try and come back to where you are." Kristen 

assumed. "Could I impose on you that much and help us out?"   
  


"Oh by all means, he's a really nice boy. As I said, we tried to get him to stay, but he was 

trying to hide his feelings about where he came from and where he was going. I want to 

see him reunited with his friends and family."   
  


"Thank you if you'll just give us directions to your place, we will continue on from there 

and try and locate him." Kristen said.   
  


Sandra explained to Kristen where they were and how to find them. "We should be there 

in about three hours" she said and hung up so they could get on their way.   
  


Nathan had been concerned as Kristen when he heard about Lucas's injury. He was 

fearful for the boy's safety with him walking around in the dark on his own. He was 

having exactly the same concerns as Bob and Sandra Stevens.   
  


Without much further convincing, they quickly told the senior crew members about the 

information from the Stevens's and told them to get a transport and meet them out front 

in ten minutes.   
  


It was more like half an hour late before two vehicles were heading down the highway 

in search of Lucas. They just hoped he was alright when they finally found him. They 

hoped that he would be willing to forgive them and come back home with them.   
  


********************************************************************* 

Because Bob and Sandra's service station hadn't been lit up, and due to the darkness 

of the night, Biff and Danny had swore and cursed aloud when they had realised that 

they must have driven past the service station a few miles back.   
  


"What do we do now" Biff said as he saw Danny curse out loud and punch the 

dashboard with his fist at their carelessness. They knew that they couldn't just walk 

up to the place and ask about the teenager. The man had seen them there earlier in 

the day and he would be able to point the finger at them later if something went wrong. 

They would just have to wait in the darkness and hope that the boy took a stroll on his 

own at some stage.   
  


Before they had a chance to turn the car around and start heading in the other direction 

again, the headlights on the car shone on a lone figure walking some distance ahead. 

They could see the silhouetted figure was somewhat cumbersome in his gait and looked 

very slow in his progress.   
  


Danny and Biff couldn't believe their luck. They hadn't expected that the teenager would 

be walking out this late at night all alone. The road was deserted. There was nobody 

to stop and help the teenager and he wouldn't be heard if he screamed for help. 

This was going to be easier than they thought.   
  


Danny put his foot down a little on the accelerator and began to travel a bit quicker. 

Although the road might be empty now, they couldn't take the chance and be caught 

in the act when a stray truck came past and saw what they were about to do.   
  
  
  


Lucas had turned his head and looked behind at the sound of a car coming behind him. 

He had almost not turned around due to concentrating on his aching knee. It had really 

begun to trouble him again over the last kilometre or so and he almost hadn't bothered 

to look around.   
  


He rolled his eyes when he saw the beaten up Cadillac coming his way. He wasn't afraid 

of them yet. He just knew that they would probably cause some trouble for him and 

make fun of him like they had earlier today.   
  


For a moment he thought his luck had changed as the car looked like it was going 

to go right past him, but then regretfully, he saw the car stop about fifty metres 

ahead of him, blocking his path.   
  


As he approached the car, Biff and Danny gave no indication about what they had 

in mind.   
  


"Well look who it is Biff" Danny said with another note of sarcasm. "It's the little 

mechanic who knew so much about fixing our car today".   
  


Lucas was now alongside of the car. Danny had walked in front of the teenager as 

he spoke, and Biff had gone behind him. They still kept their scheme to themselves 

for a few moments longer.   
  


Lucas was in no mood for idle chit chat. He was just hoping to get a few more miles 

down the road for the night and bed down somewhere to rest his leg for awhile. With 

him not having to mind about customer protocol out in the middle of nowhere and the 

pain starting to gnaw away at him, he felt the need for a comment of his own to match.   
  


"Thank you Beavis and Buthead" Lucas snapped back. "Get out of my way."   
  


Danny gave a curt nod to Biff and Lucas now found the big man behind him grabbing 

his arms painfully from behind to subdue him. They were flush up against the door 

of the Cadillac and with Danny in front of him and Biff holding onto his arms, there 

was no where to go.   
  


"Hey, let go you jerks" Lucas demanded. "I didn't do anything to you, let me go".   
  


While Biff had pinned his arms to his side, Danny now dug his hands into the boy's 

jeans pocket and extracted his black leather wallet. Lucas had tried to get free 

and stop the invasion of privacy, but he couldn't free himself from the big man's 

powerful grip.   
  


"Now let's see just who we have here " Danny said as he opened up the wallet 

and looked at the photo identification inside.   
  


"Kind of flash looking ain't it" Danny said as he showed Biff Lucas's official 

U.E.O. identification. He looked at the name on the front and knew he had to make 

a joke at the boy's name.   
  


"What kind of girly name is Lucas?" Danny said out loud and both he and Biff then 

started to laugh at the teenager's expense.   
  


Lucas felt angry at the moment. He didn't like being restrained and he definitely didn't 

like them fishing around in his personal possessions. He thought of what he knew about 

them and commented back.   
  


"What's Danny short for, Danielle?" Lucas said wryly. Even Biff had chuckled at this 

comment, but soon zipped it when he saw the less than impressed look from his friend.   
  


"Oh you think you're real smart huh" Danny said and then let a punch go and drove it 

into Lucas's unprotected stomach as Biff still held his arms.   
  


Lucas doubled over from the blow and concentrated on getting his breath back. 

His head was jerked up suddenly by his hair as Danny grabbed a hold of his blond locks 

and yanked them upwards.   
  


"Let's just see how much Mr Chuckles here is worth" Danny now said as he went into 

the money section of Lucas's wallet.   
  
  
  


Lucas hadn't been carrying much cash around with him and he had worked for nothing 

back at the Service Station.   
  


"There's only about fifteen dollars in there" Lucas said. He preferred to leave most of 

his money in the bank for another day in case he needed it later on down the track.   
  


Now Danny looked up at his captive with a gleam in his eye "Oh, but you're worth 

much more than fifteen dollars my young friend." he said and then looked at Biff 

with an evil grin.   
  


Lucas hadn't seen or heard any of the broadcasts about his disappearance and therefore 

didn't know about the huge reward offered for information that Bridger had promised.   
  


"There's people willing to pay a lot of money for your miserable hide" Danny told Lucas. 

"They think your worth at least a hundred grand".   
  


"A hundred grand" Lucas scoffed. "You've got rocks in your head. Nobody would pay 

that for me."   
  


"Oh but your wrong, your going to make Biff and I here rich" Danny said. It was about 

now that Lucas realised that these men meant to at least hold him for some sort of ransom. 

Something made him think that they were trying to weasel money out of his real father, 

Lawrence Wolenczak.   
  


"My father won't give a red penny to anybody for me" Lucas said with a grin of his own 

at these men trying to make money out of him. "He won't even give me the time of day, 

so you've got next to no chance of getting any money out of him for me."   
  


"Recognize the name Bridger" Danny now asked. Lucas gasped out loud and knew the 

name alright, but after all that had happened he found it had to believe that Bridger would 

offer $100 000 for him either. Why would Bridger offer that much money for him.   
  


Danny had seen the look of recognition at the mention of Bridger and knew that the boy 

knew the man. "You see, Biff and I think that not only will he pay $100 000 to get you 

back, but we're gonna ask for ten times that much."   
  


"You're going to ask for $1 000 000 for me" Lucas asked incredulously. He knew that 

this was an inconceivable amount to ask for him in ransom.   
  


Lucas glanced sideways and saw that Biff was dreaming of the money he and Danny 

were going to make out of him. He looked forwarded and saw that Danny had also 

been briefly distracted by the thought of instant wealth. He knew that he had to make 

his move now or never.   
  


With his left still so sore, he now silently brought his right leg up as high as he dared 

without being seen and drove it back down again onto Biff's foot.   
  


"YEEOOWWWW" Biff exclaimed as he let go of Lucas and started to dance around 

on one leg while he tried to stop the other one from throbbing.   
  


Danny had not been expecting anything either and now felt the teenager give him a 

sharp shove as he tried to get past and away from his captors.   
  


"Just don't stand there hollering, you big gloot" Danny shouted angrily at Biff while 

he picked himself up off the roadway. "Give me that stuff and get after him."   
  


Biff pulled the small brown bottle and the checkered handkerchief out of his pants 

pocket and handed them to his partner as he started to pursue the fleeing teenager.   
  


Lucky for them, Lucas's knee was still troubling him and causing him some pain. 

When he had taken off at such a speed from a stop still position, he had put more 

pressure on his injured knee than he would have liked. He made it about 30 metres 

further down the road limping when he tripped and stumbled. He was able to 

stop himself falling all the way to the ground and now rested briefly on his knees. 

He looked around and could see the two figures getting close to him. He got up 

and made another attempt to escape.   
  


Before he could get very far, Biff had managed to chase him down and as he got 

up and tried to run again, the big man had grabbed a hold of the teenager's shirt 

tail and get a loose hold on the teenager again.   
  


Lucas was struggling against his assailant. He had fallen on the roadway on his 

stomach with Biff still trying to get a good hold of his legs. He started kicking 

out with his legs and tried to inch his way on his stomach away from his attacker.   
  


Lucas started screaming. He didn't know if anybody would be able to hear him 

or come to his rescue, but he yelled for help anyway.   
  


Biff finally managed to get a decent hold on the still struggling teenager and now 

jerk him upright and pinned his arms to his side again like before. Lucas wasn't 

giving up on getting away though and was still trying to kick out with his feet 

at Biff.   
  


"Keep him quiet" Danny snapped.   
  


Biff now placed his large and calloused hand over Lucas's mouth and tried to muffle 

the young man's pleas for help.   
  


Lucas still tried to scream through Biff's hand. It wasn't as effective, but he screamed 

anyway. The more he yelled, the tighter he could feel the hand's pressure over his 

mouth.   
  


By now, the shorter legged Danny had managed to catch up with the two of them 

He had stopped briefly to pour some of the clear liquid from the small bottle 

onto the handkerchief.   
  


He put the rest of the contents of the bottle back in his pocket. He was sure that 

they would be needing it again at some stage looking at the teenager's desperate 

attempts to get away.   
  


"Hold his head still Biff" Danny said as he started descending the offending smelling 

rag towards Lucas's face.   
  


Lucas was now on full panic alert and knew what was about to happen if he couldn't 

get away from these two. He was trying to shake his head from side to side so that they 

couldn't get the cloth anyway near his face. Biff grabbed his blond hair like Danny 

had earlier and forced the boy's face towards the checkered cloth.   
  


Biff had removed his hand so that the cloth could be administered and Lucas took this 

opportunity to reiterate his yells for help.   
  


"HEEELLLLPPPPP.!!!!!! Somebody help me please" Lucas managed to get out.   
  


Danny now gruffly placed the cloth over the teenager's face. It covered his mouth 

and nose. Biff could smell the pungent fumes himself and withdrew his head away 

so that he wouldn't be influenced by the intoxicating substance.   
  


Because the rag was absolutely soaked in the stuff, it didn't take long to make Lucas's 

head start to swim badly. He stopped his struggling because he was too busy trying 

to stop his brain from spinning. The smell was not unpleasant but overwhelming and 

within a few seconds, Lucas could feel the fog start to invade his senses.   
  


Without warning, Biff felt the teenager go completely limp in his grasp as the teenager 

lost hold of consciousness. His body sagged, but Biff continued to hold him upright 

while Danny held the rag over the boy's face for another few minutes. The longer 

he inhaled the fumes, the better. They wanted him to sleep for a long time. If he was 

unconscious, it would also stop any more attempts to escape.   
  


Danny now removed the rag from Lucas's face. "Carry him back to the car and lets 

get out of here before someone sees us." he said.   
  


Biff now slung the light weight of the boy's unconscious and limp body over his shoulder 

and started to head back towards the Cadillac that was parked back down the roadway. 

The only light on the highway was that coming from the headlights of the car.   
  


"What is that stuff?" Biff now asked his partner. Whatever it was, it certainly did the 

trick to knock the boy out. He didn't look like he would be giving them any trouble 

for quite a few hours.   
  
  
  
  
  


"It's called Chloroform" Danny explained. "It's all rage at the moment with the druggies. 

A long time ago it was used mostly as an anaesthetic. After a while, people started 

experimenting and found that apart from making you pass out, if you actually drank the 

stuff, then you got this utter feeling of exhilaration unlike no other. The high they got 

exceeded anything already available on the black market. That's why it was so easy 

to come by a bottle. I have tried it but don't figure it's for me. It burns your gut as 

it goes down to your stomach. If you drink it too much it can cause all sorts of problems. 

I've heard stories about addicts who have puked up their insides blood red after taking 

too much of the stuff."   
  


"We're just going to use it to keep him quiet. If he's asleep, he can't cause trouble 

and we can move him around easier." Danny continued. "Let's just get him back 

to the motel room for now and figure out the next step from there."   
  


They had reached the car now and Biff opened the back door and laid Lucas down 

on the back seat. He didn't even stir at the rough treatment or the jostling that he 

received as he was moved around in the back of the car.   
  


A few minutes later, a lone Cadillac drove down the highway with three people 

inside. Biff and Danny sat in the front seats while the kidnap victim slept away in the 

back.   
  
  
  
  
  



	5. KIDNAPPED !!!!!

ON MY OWN   
  
  
  


When they got back to the motel, they were careful to look around before opening 

the car door and displaying their little unconscious friend. Danny opened the door 

to the room and then motioned for Biff to bring Lucas quickly into the room before 

they were seen.   
  


The boy was heavily under the effects of the Chloroform and didn't stir in the slightest 

as being thrown roughly onto the small single bed in the room.   
  


"Do you think we should tie him up" Biff now asked his partner in crime as they 

looked down at the unconscious teenager.   
  


"Nah, he'll sleep for hours. That stuff pretty potent. He won't be going anywhere 

in a hurry." Danny answered as he settled himself on the other bed in the room.   
  


Biff grumbled as he found himself having to take up on the beaten up old couch in 

the room. There were only two single beds and an aluminum chair in the room for 

furniture.   
  


Both of them decided that they needed to get some sleep before the morning. They 

would probably move out pretty early in the morning to avoid being discovered.   
  


***************************************************************** 

About three hours after Lucas's kidnappers had gone to sleep in the motel room, 

Bridger, Kristen and Ben and the rest of the crew were travelling along the road 

towards Bob and Sandra Stevens's service station.   
  


They found the right place easily enough due to the Steven's having the place lit 

up like a beacon in the night. They had been keeping an eye out along the road 

for about the last 50 miles, just in case they spotted Lucas along the way.   
  


When they pulled up, Sandra had tried to convince the searchers to come inside 

and rest a short while before heading out again in search of the missing teenager. 

It was pretty much a unanimous decision though as the crew all agreed to start the 

search as early as possible with the trail at its freshest.   
  


Bob had offered them all a place to stay for the night and now jumped into one 

of the two vehicles as they set off in search of Lucas.   
  


After about an hour of searching up and down the deserted highway, they all returned 

dejectedly to the service station without their missing charge. The depression that 

they all felt was like a disease that engulfed them all. None of them wanted to stop 

searching, but it was becoming impossible in the dead of night, even with the high 

powered lights they had brought with them. They needed to get some rest and hopefully 

pick up Lucas's trail in the morning.   
  


Bridger had been the one to protest the loudest at halting the search for the night, but 

after lots of careful persuasion and then outright threats to have him sedated in order to 

rest, he reluctantly agreed to go back to the service station and start first thing in the 

morning. He knew that sleep wouldn't come easy tonight as he thought about the one 

he loved all alone on the highway in the dead of night. He whispered a silent prayer 

as he laid awake staring at the ceiling waiting for the night to turn into morning so that 

they could start searching again.   
  


Earlier in the night, Bridger and the rest of the crew had learnt about Lucas's brief 

stay at the service station with Bob and Sandra Stevens. They had laughed about the 

encounters Lucas had with some of the not so nice customers at the petrol pumps.   
  


The all had a profound sadness about them as Bob explained that Lucas had told him 

that the kid thought he was now all alone in the world. He had mentioned to them 

about him telling them a false name to protect his past and literally clamming up each 

time something about his past was asked about.   
  


They all just had to hope and pray that he would be found safe and sound tomorrow 

so that some much overdue explanations could be given about the conversation he had 

overheard.   
  
  
  


Back at the motel, it was just before two a.m. that Lucas began to stir from his drug 

induced slumber. Danny and Biff remained oblivious to the fact that their captive 

was now waking up.   
  


Lucas turned his head from side to side, trying to clear the fog in his brain. The movement 

only seemed to make the fog move about inside his head, not disappear. He tried to open 

his eyes and found that his eyes were so heavy that he could barely get them open.   
  


He laid there for a few moments with his eyes still closed, trying to figure out where he 

was. The fog in his brain didn't bring it all back to him at once. He remembered being 

at the Stevens's place and waving them goodbye. He recalled some of his walk down 

the deserted highway.   
  


His mouth felt particularly dry and it was only upon discovery of this fact that he remembered 

what had happened. He remembered running into Biff and Danny again along the road. 

He remembered the punch to his stomach and now ran his hand over his abdomen, checking 

for any signs of injury. There was none that he could feel immediately. It was then that he 

realised with surprise that he was not tied up.   
  


He could recall the drug soaked rag being brought down on his face as he was held by 

Biff. He didn't remember much after that but assumed that he had lost consciousness and 

must have been brought somewhere as a hostage.   
  


He now managed to open his eyes and look about. He noted with surprise that this was 

the same motel room that he had stayed in a few nights ago before stumbling across the 

Stevens's service station.   
  


Carefully, he turned his head to one side to see where his kidnappers were. He could 

see Danny the furthest away asleep on the single bed. Biff was snoring on the couch 

closest to the front door.   
  


He could see that the front door was locked and then had a security chain in place across 

the top of the door. He surveyed the distance between the bed where he lay and the 

front door. He had to guess whether or not he could get to the door in time and escape 

before one of them awoke to his moving about and prevented his getting away.   
  


He decided that this was as good as an opportunity as he was going to get. He started 

to sit up but then laid back down briefly when he realised the mistake he had made 

about sitting up too quickly. His head began to swim badly again as the residual effects 

of the chloroform had yet to wear off completely.   
  


He waited a few minutes and then tried to sit up again, but much slower this time. 

The dizziness was still there, but not quite so bad this time. The other thing that he 

was able to note was the fact that his knee was only slightly aching at the moment. 

Hopefully it would enable him to get a little bit of speed once he made it outside into 

safety. Maybe he could manage to make it back to Sandra and Bob's place and call 

for help.   
  


When he was sure that the dizziness was bearable, he now swung his legs over the edge 

of the small single bed and let his feet touch the floor silently. All the time he was moving 

he was keeping one eye on what he was doing and the other on his two kidnappers. The 

last thing he wanted was for them to wake up and see him trying to escape.   
  


He now got his leg muscles working and made himself stand up from the bed. Once he 

got into a standing position, he had again to wait for the giddiness to pass before attempting 

to take a step forward. All of this was taking up precious time, but he couldn't afford to 

be too complacent about his unsteady gait and risk falling into an embarrassing and loud 

heap on the floor for his kidnappers to hear.   
  


There wasn't anything to hold onto to keep his balance, so he just had to take a chance 

and put one foot in front of the other and trust his feet to keep him upright.   
  


As he took the first two steps across the floor, he held his breath, too afraid that even 

those small efforts might be heard by his captors. The snoring that Biff was making 

was loud enough to wake the dead and hopefully muffle any of his attempts at escaping.   
  


So far so good he said to himself as he managed to get halfway across the floor without 

disturbing the sleeping beauties in the room. He had lost his wallet and Wolfman's backpack, 

but he had to forget about those material things for the time being.   
  
  
  


He had one or two silent steps to make it across the room and to the front door and to 

safety. His back was now to Danny and Biff and he couldn't see that a fly had begun to 

buzz around Biff's face making the man swat his hands into the air in an attempt to kill 

the pestering insect.   
  


His first few attempts missed completely and he found the insect to become even more 

bothersome. He now opened his eyes, ready to actually sight the little blighter before 

closing his eyes in sleep again. He opened his eyes a crack, but it wasn't the sight 

of the buzzing fly that caught his immediate attention. In the darkness of the room, 

he could make out the silhouetted shape of the blond haired teenager, trying to creep 

across the floor to the front door and escape.   
  


"DANNY, HE'S GETTING AWAY" he screamed at his slumbering partner as he dived 

off the couch and lunged towards the fleeing teenager.   
  


Lucas had jumped a little at Biff's loud announcement and now made a desperate attempt 

to get to the front door. Just as his hand enclosed around the handle of the still bolted 

and chained door, he felt Biff's rough hands grabbing at his hands and around his waist. 

He could feel the man trying to get a decent hold on him and drag him back from the door.   
  


By this time, the screaming from Biff and the scuffing noise in the room had awakened 

Danny sufficiently for him to gasp out in alarm at the boy's attempts to escape. He 

could see his friend trying to get a hold of the struggling teenager.   
  


Danny had poked around in his pockets again and drawn out the bottle of chloroform and 

rag from earlier.   
  


Lucas had turned his head towards the man and noticed his movements to soak the rag 

with the drug again. The fear inside him started to rise again and he heard himself 

starting to yell for help again.   
  


Biff had now managed to pull the struggling teenager away from the door again and now 

clamped his hand over the boy's mouth again, trying to silence him. The boy attempted 

to keep kicking and fighting the man off to get away. His actions were less co-ordinated 

this time and somewhat weaker due to the effects of the chloroform.   
  


Biff screamed out in pain of his own as Lucas tried to get the hand away from his mouth.   
  


"You little BASTARD" the man cried out angrily and now slapped the boy viciously across 

the face and then clamped the hand back over his mouth again. This time he tightened 

his grip so that the teenager struggled to drawn in oxygen to his starving lungs.   
  


"He bit me" Biff said in disbelief to his friend Danny. "The little bastard actually bit me.": 

"Don't worry, I'll get him" Danny said as he now grabbed a hold of the still struggling 

teenager himself and slapped the drug soaked rag back over the boy's mouth and nose.   
  


"Noooo" Lucas tried to muffle through the rag, but due to having some disorientation 

from the earlier dose, it took less time for his head to start to swim again from the sweet 

smelling liquid. The boy soon fell unconscious again, but Danny held the rag in place 

even longer this time.   
  


"Drag him back over to the bed, but this time make sure he can't get away" Danny 

said. He briefly looked out the curtains of the room to make sure that the boy's screams 

hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. When he was satisfied that nobody was about 

he laid back down on the bed and went to sleep again.   
  


Biff had carried Lucas over to the small chair in the room and now made sure that the 

teenager wouldn't be able to escape when he awoke from the chloroform. With the 

teenager in the chair, he was able to sprawl himself out onto the single bed that Lucas 

has occupied earlier. The two kidnappers slept in peace now that their captive was 

unable to escape.   
  


The next time that Lucas awoke, it was almost midday the next day. The two kidnappers 

had planned to leave earlier that morning, but due to them both oversleeping, it was 

now late in the day and they couldn't risk taking him out to the car in broad daylight. 

They would have to wait until it got dark again before trying to sneak him out of the motel 

room.   
  


When Lucas awoke this time, he knew that he wasn't lying down on the single bed. This 

time his muscles ached from the upright position he found himself in sitting in the chair. 

He tried to put his hand to his head as it throbbed out a headache from the second dose 

of chloroform, but he found his hands were tied to the arms of the chair. He tried to move 

his feet about to get some circulation back into his arms and legs, but they were tied to 

the legs of the chair. He twisted and pulled at the chafing ropes around his wrists and 

ankles, but the rope held strong and he could get himself free no matter how much he tried.   
  


"You can pull on them all you like kid, you won't get free this time" Danny said as he 

watched the teenager tugging on his bonds.   
  


"Let me go" Lucas demanded as he scowled at the two men sitting in the room watching 

him fight with the ropes around his hands and feet.   
  


"Don't think that will be happening anytime soon" Danny replied. "Like I told you before 

kid, you're worth a lot of money to us and we aim to collect."   
  


"You even think about yelling kid and I'll make you think twice about it" Danny now 

stated to his young captive. Out of the pocket of his shirt, he produced a serrated steak 

knife and openly displayed it to the teenager to make sure he knew that they meant 

business.   
  


Lucas swallowed hard at the sight of the knife and knew for the first time that these 

two men meant to hurt him. "Please, just let me go. I promise I won't tell anybody 

about you two. Just let me go and I won't say a thing."   
  


Before Danny or Biff could reply, they all could hear somebody approaching the 

front door of the motel room.   
  


Danny motioned for Biff to move behind Lucas and keep him quiet while he answered 

the door.   
  


Once again, Lucas felt Biff's hand slapped over his mouth, preventing him from calling 

for help.   
  


Danny opened the door a crack to see who the unwanted visitor was. Standing outside 

was a man with a black coloured military uniform. Danny moved in front of the opened 

door, preventing the man from gaining a look inside the room.   
  


Lucas was dragged out sight while still tied to the chair, but he heard the voice at the door 

and his hopes soared with the thought of a rescue. All he had to do was signal somehow 

to the man outside that he was being held inside against his will.   
  


The man at the door was none other than his friend Lieutenant Benjamin Krieg. 

"Good Morning Sir" Ben started the conversation. "My name is Ben Krieg. I am an officer 

with the U.E.O."   
  


Lucas tried to scream through Biff's hand at his friend. "BBBEEENNMMPH" came the 

muffled call. This only resulted in the hand tightening over his mouth again and silencing 

him even more.   
  


"What can I do for you officer" Danny said to Ben as he tried to give the impression 

of indifference to whatever it was the man was doing here.   
  


"I'm looking for a missing teenager. He went missing about a week ago and we have 

received some recent information that he might be in the area. I was wondering if you 

wouldn't mind taking a look at this photo and telling me if you might have come across 

him in your travels lately?"   
  


"Sure I'll take a look, but I don't recall coming into contact with too many young people 

over the last week" Danny lied.   
  


Ben displayed the smiling photo of Lucas that had been shown on the television and 

waited for the man to take a good look at the teenager's face.   
  


Danny kept up appearances and looked at the photo for a minute or so and then 

replied "Sorry, I haven't seen him. I'll be sure to keep my eyes out for him though."   
  


"Thank you Sir, I will leave you this photo and there's a number printed on the back. 

If you should spot him or anything, just call that number and let the people on the other 

end know. We are much obliged for your assistance in this." Ben said and then started 

to walk away once he handed Danny Lucas's photograph.   
  
  
  


Lucas tried to scream for help again as he heard Ben starting to walk away. Biff's 

hand remained tightly over his mouth though and his pleas only became a whisper 

at the most.   
  


As soon as Ben had walked away, Danny had closed the door and relocked it. Lucas 

now sank into depression. The one chance at his rescue had come and gone and he 

was still tied to this chair. Biff removed his hand from Lucas's mouth, confident that 

nobody would hear the kid if he yelled now.   
  


Lucas was expecting Danny or Biff to make smart comments about him not being 

heard, but instead the conversation about him turned serious as they started to discuss 

when to take him out without being seen.   
  


"We'll wait until it's just on dawn tomorrow morning" Danny explained. "It will still 

be dark here and by the time it's light, we will be half way down the highway with 

nobody even knowing where the kid is."   
  


Lucas had become very tired again despite his uncomfortable position in the chair. 

He had been listening to the conversation about his journey away from the motel the 

next day, but somewhere half way through it he had lost his battle to stay awake from 

the chloroform and he slumped lower in the chair as he fell asleep.   
  


Lucas had slept along time in the chair and didn't awaken until he was being untied 

from the chair ready to be taken in the Cadillac again to an unknown destination.   
  


"Can I please have a drink of water?" Lucas asked with a croaky voice. His mouth 

was now incredibly dry and he didn't have any smart comments to make at the moment. 

He just prayed his kidnappers were merciful enough to carry out his request.   
  


"Give the brat a drink Biff" Danny said in an uninterested tone of voice. "It will probably 

be the last one he gets for today anyway. We don't want him dying on us just yet."   
  


The water from the tap was hot and felt kind of gritty going down, but he drank it anyway. 

Like Danny said it was probably the only one he would get for quite a while.   
  


Lucas now watch in fear as Danny went around to the side of one of the beds and started 

to tear a small piece of cloth from one of the sheets. With the small bit of cloth in his 

hand Danny now walked closer towards the teenager seated in the chair.   
  


He gave the boy a sneer as he held the cloth stretch between his two hands showing the 

teenager his intentions. Lucas now realised that the man meant to use the cloth from 

the sheet as a gag in his mouth.   
  


Danny would have preferred to use the chloroform again, but they had already used it 

twice in the last twenty-four hours and they didn't know how much was too much. 

They wanted to subdue the kid but not kill him just yet. They would need him later 

when they transacted the deal between the boy and his family for the ransom money. 

The family would probably want proof that the boy was still alive when they handed 

the money over.   
  


Lucas was now untied out of the chair and had tried to rise and escape once more 

before he was tied up again. He felt the back of his shirt jerked back savagely at his 

attempts to rise out of the chair. Biff had a good hold on him again and held his 

head still while Danny jammed the gag into his mouth and secured it at the back of 

his neck.   
  


The gag was particularly tight and bit into the soft skin around his mouth making it 

difficult to take anything but shallow breaths through his nose.   
  


Lucas then felt Biff's rough hands on his arms again as he was hauled out of the chair 

and escorted to the front door of the motel room.   
  


Danny opened the door and motioned to Biff to let him check that the coast was clear 

before they dragged the teenager back into the Cadillac. He walked out of the room 

and opened the rear door of the car and signalled for Biff to bring the kid out.   
  


Lucas tried to get a good look at his surroundings as he came out of the room. It was 

just before sunrise. The sky had taken on a funny colour in that few minutes from 

complete darkness from the night before until the rising of the golden yellow ball in the sky.   
  


Lucas could see that he was back at the motel he had stayed in a few nights ago, but before 

he could take too many mental notes about his environment, his blond head was being 

roughly forced into the back of the car. He tried to yell back at his captors about his 

rough treatment and the bruises he would probably have later from them, but his words 

only came through as muffled cries through the gag in his mouth. He was really thankful 

for that glass of water earlier. Now with the gag in his mouth and the effects of the two 

doses of chloroform, his body badly lacked moisture and his mouth was extremely dry.   
  


Danny got into the front of the Cadillac and the driver's seat. Biff got in with the teenager 

and made sure that Lucas was laying on the floor. He put his foot on the boy's chest 

just to make sure that he didn't make any attempts at signalling for help.   
  


The car started heading back in the direction of Bob and Sandra's service station. When 

they far enough down the road they would stop at a payphone and send their ransom 

demands to the boy's family.   
  


Lucas heard the two men talking and decided that when the vehicle stopped the next time, 

he would need to make his move to escape.............. no matter what the risks involved.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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	6. ESCAPING

  
  
  
  
  
  
ON MY OWN   
  
  
  
  
  


Danny and Biff had only just begun to start their journey with their young captive 

shoved down behind the front seats when the troublesome radiator finally gave up 

the ghost and started to overheat the engine of the Cadillac.   
  


"Damn, that's all we need" Danny said as he angrily thumped the dashboard, trying 

to somehow will another few miles of life into the dying automobile.   
  


"What are we going to do now" Biff asked. He still had his foot on Lucas's chest 

and looked down at the helpless youth trying to come up with idea that would see 

then through this mess and not in jail for kidnapping.   
  


The sun was still very low in the sky for this time of the morning and the time was 

only 6.00am in the morning.   
  


Danny decided to pull off the main road towards a lonely diner just ahead of them. 

They would be able to stop behind the buildings and still hide Lucas's presence while 

they refilled the radiator from the diner's hose.   
  


"I think I will make our little deed public now too" Danny explained to Biff "I'll 

talk to the kid's family and tell them how much to get him back in one piece."   
  


"You sure that they aren't going to be able to tell where we are from the phone call" 

Biff said worriedly. There was all sorts of telecommunications tracking devices available 

for tracing the origins of calls. If they weren't careful, they would inadvertently leave 

a trail a mile wide for the authorities to follow them.   
  


"Nah, even if they are able to work out where the call came from, by the time they get 

here, we will be long gone." Danny replied.   
  


Danny pulled the car off the road behind the diner and parked behind the building to keep 

out of sight as much as possible.   
  


"You fill the radiator and check the engine while I make the call" Danny said. He took 

a quick glimpse at the bound figure still squished behind the seats and grinned.   
  


"Now don't you go anyway kid", Danny said "I'm gonna go and ring your daddy now. 

If they play ball and pay up, maybe you'll get to go home real soon." he closed the door 

and left the teenager bound up behind the seat while Biff got out and started to look at 

the engine.   
  


While Lucas was laying on his back, tied up in the back of the Cadillac and his captors went about 

their set tasks, a small man was nervously about to knock on the door of the service station 

where Bob and Sandra Stevens lived. The SeaQuest crew were there as well.   
  


The man wiped his sweaty palm and knocked very lightly on the screen door. He had almost 

turned around and gone back to the motel were he had started out from. He was very 

apprehensive about what he had to tell the people inside and he wasn't sure of how they would 

react to his little bit of information.   
  


Bob thought he had heard something. He even turned his head towards the door trying to listen 

for the noise again. It didn't come but something told him that he had heard something at the 

door. He got up and walked to the back door and opened it and peered outside looking for the 

cause of the noise he thought he had heard.   
  


"Can I help you" Bob asked the shadowy figure that was walking away from the door. The 

figure turned back around and walked cautiously back towards the voice he heard at the door.   
  


The man was wearing a cap and now removed it and held it in his hands as he addressed Bob 

Stevens. Bob could tell that the man was nervous. So nervous in fact that he twisted the cap 

in his hands as he spoke.   
  


"My-my name is Jason, Jason Smith" the man began "I'm hear to talk to those people about 

that missing lad that I saw on the television."   
  


Bob gasped out allowed and motioned for the man to come in "You'd better come in then" 

he replied.   
  


Kristen and the others looked up from the casual conversation they had been having when 

they saw a stranger walk into the room. Like Bob, they too could see the apprehensiveness 

that the man displayed about being here. Bob walked behind him and now spoke for him.   
  


"Says he wants to talk to you about Lucas" Bob said to Bridger. Bridger was immediately 

on his feet beckoning for the man to come forward.   
  


"Names Jasper Smith" the stranger said as he shook Bridger's outstretched hand. He looked 

about the room and gulped nervously at the sight of all of the military uniforms. He was 

about to back peddle again and his fears about their reaction to his information had begun to 

resurface again.   
  


"What information do you have to share with us Mr Smith" Kristen now asked in a soft but 

firm voice. She didn't want to frighten the man away, but they needed to hear what he had 

to say as well. Something told her and the others that the man had some information that might 

be worth hearing. Maybe a clue to Lucas's whereabouts.   
  


"You folk are looking for that blonde haired kid are you?" he now asked. Bridger nodded in 

reply not speaking so as to avoid interrupting the man's train of thought.   
  


"I've come to tell you that I have seen him" Smith answered. "I've seen him twice actually 

in the last few days".   
  


"You've seen him twice?" Kristen now answered with a question of her own.   
  


"I work at a motel about twenty miles from here. The first night I seen him and spoke to 

him. He rented a room for $35.00 and stayed the night. He left later the same night on foot. 

Seemed a nice enough kid. Left the room clean and tidy when he left." Smith explained.   
  


"When was the second time you saw him" Bridger now asked finding his voice. He wanted 

to ask a million questions to this man who had apparently talked to Lucas, but he decided to 

bid his time.   
  


"Just yesterday actually" Smith answered "Although this time he wasn't alone."   
  


This bit of information was both promising and worrying at the same time. The fact that 

Lucas had been seen only yesterday meant that they might be closer to finding the teenager 

than they first thought. On the other hand who were the two men he was with?   
  


"Do you know who these two men were?" Bridger now asked Smith.   
  


"No, the bigger one came in the day before yesterday and rented a room for two people." 

Smith said "He told me that they would be staying maybe two days and paid in advance 

for both nights. They left kind of late one night, about midnight. I thought that they must 

be leaving. But after about an hour they came back to the room again. They thought I 

couldn't see them, and I kinda stayed out of sight to see what they were doing. They were 

acting might suspiciously if you asked me. That's when I saw the young man emerge 

from the back seat of the car. He looked as if he was asleep because the two fellows had 

a hold of one arm each to take him inside. I didn't hear him talk or anything like that."   
  


"Did he look as though he might be hurt anywhere?" Kristen now asked putting her doctor's 

hat on with concern about Lucas's lack of movement when being taken into the motel room.   
  


"Not that I could see, but like I told you he wasn't moving very much. They literally carried 

him inside. After they closed the door I didn't see him again. This morning they were all 

gone. The room was empty as if nobody had been there at all." Smith recounted for all in the 

room.   
  


"I better be going now. I just wanted to let somebody know about what I saw. Wouldn't 

want something bad happening to the boy. You won't mention my name at all will you? Lord 

knows I can't afford to lose my job at the moment." Smith then left the building and went back 

to his post at the motel reception desk.   
  


"Thank you Mr Smith for your co-operation and you vigilance" Bridger said as he tried to put 

all of the pieces of the jigsaw he had been given together about Lucas's disappearance.   
  


"Captain, I talked to quite a few people at that motel" Ben now interjected. "I even showed 

Lucas's photo around and asked if anybody had seen him. Everybody I talked to said that 

they hadn't seen him. I don't like the sound of where this is heading."   
  


"Neither do I Lieutenant" Bridger replied. Something in the pit of his stomach said something 

wasn't right about this whole motel thing and the two strangers. The feeling was beginning to 

grow with intensity when he thought of all of the possible scenarios that could be playing 

themselves out at that very moment. Something told him that Lucas was in more trouble than 

he could handle alone at the moment. They needed to find him now with a greater sense of 

urgency.   
  


The telephone rang in the background just to interrupt their thoughts for a moment. Sandra 

Stevens got up to answer the call. She came back into the living room "Kristen, I think the 

call is for you. Sounds like somebody from the television station."   
  


"Thank you" Kristen said as she got up from the couch to answer the call. Bridger followed 

behind her, wanting to know if anybody had any more information.   
  


"Dr Westphalen" was the response at the other end of the line. "It's Rebecca Taylor from the 

news station, I have somebody on line who says he has information about Lucas's whereabouts 

at the moment. Do you want me to patch him through?" the girl asked.   
  


"Yes please Rebecca" Kristen said trying to keep herself calm to here the information they all 

desperately needed to hear. She relayed the beginning of the conversation to Bridger and he 

too was now listening very intently for the voice on the other end line.   
  


"Hello" Kristen said as she held the receiver in a position that they could both hear the mystery 

caller. "Is anybody there?"   
  


"I want to talk to Captain Nathan Bridger of the U.E.O." Danny said into the pay telephone. 

He had a rag over the receiver to try and disguise his voice.   
  


"I can talk to you if you like" Kristen suggested to the unknown caller.   
  


"I said I want to talk to Captain Nathan Bridger lady" Danny now said gruffly "Do you want 

to know about this brat or not?"   
  


Bridger now took the telephone from Kristen and spoke into it himself "Listen here Mr 

Whoever you Are, if you have information about Lucas then we are most grateful and are 

willing to listen to anything to have to say but don't be harsh about it." Bridger said trying 

to keep his temper in check.   
  


"Oh, your going to listen to me CAPTAIN. I guarantee it. You see, I know where the boy 

is. And if you want to see him again in one piece, he's going to cost you a pretty sum."   
  


Bridger forgot all about the protocol things he had just said and now turned bright red 

with anger at this person on the other end of the phone threatening him with Lucas's life.   
  


"Where is he you animal" Bridger snarled at the kidnapper. "If you harm one hair on his 

head, by God I promise you a very painful episode"   
  


Kristen hadn't been able to capture all of the conversation between the two men, but the 

look of blood boiling anger on Bridger's face and the yelling indicated that something bad 

had already happened to Lucas. The others had heard the shouting and also started to gather 

in closer proximity to the phone to hear the rest of the conversation. From what they had 

heard, somebody was threatening Bridger. Bridger was shouting back threatening to hurt 

whoever was holding Lucas hostage.   
  


"If he get's hurt Captain, it will be your fault." came the abrupt reply. "I'll be in contact 

with you shortly. I'll tell you where you can transfer the one million dollars it will cost you 

to get the boy back again in one piece. Be waiting when I call again" and the phone call 

went dead. Bridger held the hand piece in his hands for a few minutes more trying to digest 

everything he had just heard. Somebody had kidnapped Lucas and was apparently holding 

him for ransom. They had asked for one million dollars for his return or he would be harmed.   
  


Kristen came to her senses and now took the phone out of Bridger's hand and started to dial 

the number to the television station. Everybody else in the room just stood stunned at the 

prospect that Lucas had been kidnapped.   
  


Bob and Sandra were holding onto each other. Sandra was softly crying that news of Lucas's 

abduction and blaming herself and Bob for not being able to keep the teenager at the service 

station a few more days. If they had been able to, maybe this all wouldn't have happened and 

the missing boy would still be safe.   
  


"Rebecca" Kristen said as the same girl answered her call "Are you able to tell me where that 

call came from" hoping that they might be able to trace the call.   
  


"I'll get the technicians right on it Dr Westphalen" the girl said as Kristen told her that they 

needed to trace the call urgently.   
  


The minutes that passed while they waited on the line felt more like hours, then finally 

Rebecca came back with some news "They can't get an exact fix on the position Doctor, 

but they say that they think the signal is coming not far from where you are. The information 

is a little sketchy because the call was made from a pay phone and there are so many out 

there in isolated areas that it could have come from any one of them."   
  


Kristen relayed the findings about the telephone call and that it could be coming from 

someplace nearby.   
  


"I can get them to do some finer tuning and try to get a better location for you if you like" 

Rebecca suggested, "But it might take quite a while longer. If you give me the number where 

I can contact you, I will ring you back."   
  


"Yes, that would be good Rebecca" Kristen answered "Please also let us know the minute 

you get another call from these men again. We think that is how they will make contact 

with us again, so that they can remain as anonymous as possible."   
  


Ben Krieg and Miguel Ortiz wanted to leave right then and there and start combing the 

highway for Lucas and his kidnappers. Bridger secretly wanted to do the same thing, but 

he needed to wait by the phone for the kidnappers to ring back again and give him further 

instructions about what he was to do.   
  


"If we don't hear anything in two hours Lieutenant, believe me I will be right in that vehicle 

with you, but until then, we have to believe that Lucas will be alright as long as the kidnappers 

think they will get their ransom money." Bridger said. "Right now we have to think about 

Lucas and concentrate on finding him and getting him away from his abductors."   
  


Ben and Miguel didn't like it and they showed their displeasure by flopping down loudly on 

two of the chairs in the living room. Somehow they knew that Bridger was right but the waiting 

around didn't put their minds at ease or make it any easier to bear the thought of Lucas being 

held for ransom.   
  


Bridger found the air in the room stifling and he had to escape to outside before it became too 

overwhelming. The people inside were counting on him to keep a cool head and keep it together.   
  


Bob wandered outside after Bridger and found the man pacing the driving way of the service 

station with worry etched all over his face about the boy he loved so much.   
  


"You care greatly for him don't you?" Bob asked in an almost whisper.   
  


"More than I could possibly say in words" Bridger admitted. "I've already lost one family, 

I don't know how I would cope at the thought of losing another one."   
  


"How come Lucas thinks that he has no family to go to then?" Bob asked. He was really 

perplexed about it. Lucas had told himself and Sandra that there was nobody important 

in his life, but looking at all of these people that were now in his living room, he could see 

that all of them had deep affection for the missing teenager. How could Lucas have gotten 

it so wrong.?   
  


"That's what makes it even harder" Bridger said. He found himself pouring out all about 

how Lucas came to be on SeaQuest. He told Bob about the abuse he had suffered at the 

hands of his father Lawrence Wolenczak. He told them about the conversation Lucas had 

overheard. This is where they found themselves now after that.   
  


Bob had sat literally stunned about such an up and down life the boy had lived. He too 

seethed with anger at the descriptions that Bridger had given him about the abuse Lucas 

had endured at the hands of his father. The sad thing about that was that there were probably 

a lot of incidents that were still unknown to Bridger and his crew. They had heard a lot of 

them, too many, but somehow they all knew that deep down, where Lucas refused to let anybody 

get close, there were more horrifying stories about his childhood before SeaQuest.   
  
  
  


The friendship and family that Lucas had found aboard the SeaQuest seemed to be just what the 

boy yearned to find. He had found a family and family had found him. It was a winning 

combination. Bob and Sandra knew how it had felt too. Bob told Bridger about how the 

teenager's gentleness and loneliness had grown on them too. He told Bridger about how they 

had lost their own son to their ignorance or selfishness. Lucas had come back into their lives 

and even though it had been for a very short space of time, they had almost felt like worthwhile 

parents again.   
  


Back at the Diner, Lucas was still laying in the back seat of the car trying to put a plan together 

of how to escape before Danny came back from making his telephone call. For an instant he 

tried to imagine how Danny's telephone call would affect Bridger and Kristen. He tried to 

think of the amount of money that his kidnappers where asking for his return and shook his head 

knowing that there was no way in hell that his family or friends could raise that much money even 

if they wanted to. The gag in his mouth was getting too tight around his face and he wished 

he could loosen it just a little. With it this tight around his mouth, there was no chance to call 

out for help from anybody who might be around.   
  


There was a dull ache starting at the back of his head as a result of the residual effects of the 

chloroform. His ribs were painful after having Biff's foot on his chest for the best part of an 

hour and he was sure that there would some bruises to show for it. He cautiously lifted his 

head up and tried to look out the windows of the Cadillac to get his bearings. He grunted 

at the slight discomfort he felt from his chest. He could see the white painted brick walls 

of a building in front of the car. He could see Biff, one of his captors bent over the side of 

Cadillac trying to fix the boiling radiator.   
  


Lucas looked at the rear doors and saw that both of them were locked. There was no 

chance of escape that way. He had to come up with another idea and quickly before 

Danny returned. He looked towards Biff again and started to formulate a plan in his 

head that might just work.   
  


Lucas put the most pitiful look he could muster on his face and started to tap his 

sneaker on the window of the car to get Biff's attention.   
  
  
  
  
  


Biff heard the tapping on the window and walked back towards the rear of the car. 

He saw that the boy was tapping the window with his foot. The problem with the radiator 

had made him crankier and crankier the longer he had to stand around and wait for Danny 

to come back. He jerked open the door and was about to give the teenager a kick in the 

guts and yell at him to keep quiet. The look he saw on the boy's face made him skip a 

beat and start to wonder if there was something terribly wrong with the kid.   
  


He jerked open the door but then tried to sit the kid up a little to get a good look at his 

complexion. The boy looked awfully pale in the face to Biff.   
  


"You alright kid?" Biff now asked. He was worried that the teenager would croak 

before they had a chance to get their hands on the ransom money. After they had the 

money he didn't really care what happened to the boy, but for now, they needed to 

keep him alive just a little while longer.   
  


Lucas had held his breath through the gag until his face had turned a sickly white colour, 

just on the verge of blue from lack of oxygen. He was hoping he would appeal more to 

the big man's compassionate side and the man would think that he was asphyxiating and 

loosen the gag around his mouth. That was the first step to his plan anyway.   
  


Danny had just walked back towards the car when he saw his partner Biff sitting in the 

back seat and grabbing the kid by the shirt collar. He thought the kid must have gotten 

a little cocky and pissed his friend off enough for him to get riled up.   
  


He stood behind Biff and asked him "What's wrong Biff, can't even handle a kid huh?"   
  


Biff turned angrily on his friend and shouted back "No I think the kid's about to croak. 

He's awfully pale and don't look like he's breathing right."   
  


Lucas had seen Danny reappear from his position and decided to lay it one a little thicker 

now they were both here. He made some more moans and groans through the gag trying 

to emphasis the fact that he couldn't breathe. Part of it was actually true, he just decided 

to exaggerate that fact a little more. Then just for a little more emphasis, he made his eyes 

roll back into his head and appear that he was losing consciousness from the lack of air.   
  


"Quick, get the gag off him Biff" Danny said. He too was taken in by the boy's good 

acting skills and was worried about the boy dying before they could collect the ransom 

money for him.   
  


Biff untied the gag from around Lucas's mouth and neck. Lucas kept up the role play 

and made his head fall forward.   
  


"Drag him out into the fresh air a little Biff" Danny now suggested. There was nobody 

about at this time of the morning. They could afford the kid a few minutes in the open.   
  


Lucas felt himself being pulled forward towards the edge of the seat at the door by the 

big man. Neither kidnapper noticed the limp boy tensing his muscles at the last minute 

and managing to get his foot in the right position for his next move.   
  


Without warning and because they had thought the boy had fainted or something, Lucas 

drove his foot, shoe and all as hard as he could into Biff's unprotected groin. It worked. 

The big man went down in a screaming heap on the ground just outside the car as he 

grabbed at his balls that were on fire from the pain. He had let go of the teenager as 

he worried about his own body for a moment.   
  


"Don't worry Biff, I'll get him" Danny now said as he moved forward. He had seen 

his friend fall backwards from the kid's boot and saw tears of pain down the man's face 

from his injury.   
  


During the few seconds grace that he was allowed, Lucas had managed to get him ready 

for the next assault on Danny. As the second kidnapper ducked his head into the back seat 

of the kid ready to grab the kid by the scruff of the neck and subdue him before he could 

escape, Lucas head butted the man as hard as he could in the forehead.   
  


The trick worked, Oh God he had a headache now. Lucas had managed to clamber out 

of the car while his two captors were rolling around on the ground with pain. The blow 

from the head butt had cause a cut just below his hairline that was now bleeding and causing 

his vision to be blurred.   
  
  
  


He wasn't prepared to wait around any longer for his sight to get better. He just started to 

run. He couldn't tell were he was going, the dark shapes he saw only allowed him to avoid 

being conked by some big object in his path. If he stumbled now his two captors would be 

back on him in a second and he didn't like the idea of the reception he would receive after 

what he had done.   
  


He ran down what looked like the side of the brick building and he could make out the 

shape of a doorway. His head was pounding dreadfully and the blood from the gash on his 

head was running down his face. He didn't know how much longer he could remain upright. 

His steps were disorientated and began to falter after some short distance.   
  


He ran towards the door and yanked on a silver line that looked like some sort of handle. 

He yanked it and thankfully it came out towards him. He had almost fallen from the jerking 

of the door but managed to keep his footing by the barest of margins and stumble through 

the open doorway.   
  


When he entered the room, the first thing that hit him was the bright lights. It was these 

same lights that began to make his head spin. He could make out the image of somebody 

standing a little bit further away from him with his still blurry vision.   
  


He held out his hand and started to walk towards the shadowy figure he saw. With each 

step he took, the dizziness became very bad. The world was going around and around.   
  


"Help me please" he managed to whisper "Two men after me........ help me please"   
  


He couldn't even make out dark shapes anymore, the spinning in his head became too 

much and the pain was almost blinding.   
  


He stretched out his hand and was surprised to feel it touching somebody else's. 

"Captain" he said as all at once he lost his sense of balance and tumbled to the floor.   
  


"Help me please Captain" he repeated in a barely audible voice "Help......" and then 

the world stopped spinning and became totally dark. His head lolled forward as he 

lost his battle to remain conscious.   
  


The man didn't know who the boy was that had stumbled through the front door of 

his diner. He had seen the young man enter. He appeared to be injured somehow. 

Upon coming closer to the youth, the man could see the bleeding gash on the boy's 

forehead. The boy had lost his balance and tumbled to the floor and lost consciousness 

right in the man's arms. He didn't know who this Captain fellow was that the boy 

had spoken about.   
  


Before he could check the boy over any further, another two figures entered the diner's 

front door. They seemed to see the boy laying on the floor and then back peddled in a 

hurry and rush back out the door.   
  


The man then heard the sound of a car engine outside and the car driving away at high 

speed. He was about to ask them if they knew the injured young man on the floor, 

but they had left too much in a hurry before he had a chance to ask them anything.   
  


He looked back down at the unconscious boy on the floor and now lightly patted the 

boy's face to try and rouse him. There was no response. The boy's eyes didn't even 

flutter at his touch.   
  


"Amy, better get out here" the man yelled back towards the kitchen of the diner. "We've 

got an injured young man out here."   
  


MORE TO COME...........   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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	7. SYLVIA'S DINER

  
  
  
  
  
  
ON MY OWN   
  
  
  


"What's all the shouting about Dad?" said a slim dark haired girl who emerged from behind 

the kitchen cubicle of the diner.   
  


The girl walked closer to her father and saw what looked to be a blond hair young man 

unconscious and bleeding on the floor. Her father had a handkerchief to the gash on his 

head but it was obvious that the boy needed more than just a cloth to help his injuries.   
  


She looked a little harder at the youth and noticed that apart from the wound on his scalp 

he was actually very handsome. She secretly found herself wondering what colour eyes 

were underneath those pale closed lids.   
  


"Well come on girl, don't just stand there all bug eyed" her father said sternly rousing the 

girl from her pleasant day-dream "Help me by grabbing hold of his legs and feet. We can take him 

out to that old couch in the spare room. After we have laid him down we will probably 

need some clean cool water, some towels and whatever you else you can find in the medicine 

chest out back."   
  


Lucas didn't feel himself being lifted into the strong arms of the man from the diner or the 

slim arms of his daughter. They moved awkwardly towards a room in the back. He wasn't 

particularly heavy, they noted how painfully thin he looked, but he was tall and his long limbs 

made it awkward to pass through the narrow hallway to the spare room.   
  
  
  
  
  


When the entered the room, they laid the unconscious Lucas on a small checkered couch 

that was positioned along one wall. As soon as his legs were lifted onto the couch, Amy 

went over to a bed in the same room and retrieved some pillows and placed them underneath 

his head as her father moved him gently forward enough to allow this.   
  


"Wonder who he is Dad" Amy now asked as she looked down at the pale face on the couch. 

"Where does he come from and what is he doing here this early in the morning with his head 

bleeding like that?"   
  


"There will be a time for questions later girl" her father answered "Right now let's just go about 

making him more comfortable and getting him patched up a little. Lord knows we probably 

fetch a doctor but the nearest one is on the other side of the river and almost a day's drive away. 

We will do the best we can for him for the time being and then see how he fair's after that"   
  


Amy went into the kitchen of the Diner and filled a steel basin with cool water and fetched a 

linen cloth from the cupboard beside the sinks. She gave the basin of water and cloth to her 

father and then went out of the room again in search of the other medical stuff they might need.   
  


The man's name was Howard Sullivan. He was the owner and proprietor of the Sylvia's Diner 

Lucas had stumbled into. He and his 16 year old daughter Amy ran the place alone. Amy's 

mother Sylvia had died when the girl was only about 6 years old and since then, Howard found 

himself being a sole parent to a wilful and rebellious tomboy. She was a good enough girl at 

heart and lately as the rebelliousness started to subside, the man found himself partners with a 

very likeable teenager who helped him to no end in the Diner. She worked almost as hard as him 

some days to make the place work between them. Sometimes it could get very lonely on this long 

stretch of road that saw infrequent and few customers, but they had come to like it for what it 

offered.   
  


The man dipped the cloth into the cool water and then wrung most of the water out until the 

cloth was just damp He then gently started to dab at the gash on Lucas's head to wipe away 

some of the dried blood to get a good look at the laceration.   
  


At first there was no response from Lucas about the man's administrations. It wasn't until 

the fifth or sixth passing over with the cloth that a small moan escaped the boy's pale lips.   
  
  
  


Howard stopped his dabbing and watched carefully to see if the boy was in fact waking up. 

Lucas was moving his head from side to side trying to clear his head of the headache that 

had invaded his brain. He lifted his hand to his head and tried to open his eyes and survey 

his surroundings.   
  


"Welcome back son" Howard said. Lucas was startled a little by the sound of a strange voice 

and he immediately opened his eyes to see where the voice had come from. His aching head 

was trying to put everything together. He could vaguely remember running from something 

then everything went totally dark.   
  


"Whoa take it easy, I'm not going to hurt you" Sullivan said as he saw the frightened look 

on the teenager. He was afraid that Lucas might try and dive out of the room so he put 

a gentle but restraining hand on the boy's chest to keep him laying down on the couch.   
  


"Where am I" Lucas said in a barely audible whisper. It was then that he remembered 

Danny and Biff. He sat up suddenly trying to look around for his two kidnappers. The only 

thing that resulted from the sudden movement was a wave of dizziness that threatened to 

spill him to the floor and his headache increased ten fold.   
  


"Oohhh that smarts" he said as he winced loudly and put his hand to his head again to 

try and ease the pain.   
  


Amy had walked back into the room just as Lucas said this and she was surprised to see 

the young man awake. She could see that he was treating his head with tender hands 

and knew that he must be experiencing some pain.   
  


"Do you want some aspirin?" Amy now asked Lucas.   
  


Lucas looked up again at the sound of a different voice in the room. This time the voice 

was not male at all but came from a young girl. Lucas found himself staring at the petite 

and pretty dark haired girl. He tried to stop himself from staring but his gaze became 

fixated on the person who looked to be around the same age as himself. It had been quite 

a while since he had been in the company of anybody else his own age except for Wolfman 

and this girl was definitely better looking than his friend Nick.   
  
  
  


Lucas remembered the question she had asked him and nodded his head, not confident in 

any verbal reply he might have. His tongue felt like it was tied in knots at this very moment.   
  


Howard looked at the expression on the young man's face. He had seen a similar look on his 

daughter when she had spotted the unconscious man on the Diner floor not more than a few 

minutes ago.   
  


Amy handed Lucas two shiny white pills and a glass of water and he gratefully swallowed them 

and hoped that they would be instantaneous in helping ease his headache. He knew that he would 

have to wait though so he laid back down on the pillows and tried to figure out all of the events 

that had taken place this morning. Things had happened so quickly that they were kind of like 

a haze at the moment. Maybe it was due to the drugs, maybe it was due to him head butting one 

of the kidnappers. He didn't really have the answers at this time.   
  


"Can you tell us who you are son?" Howard Sullivan now asked seeing that Lucas was trying to 

work things out for himself in his head.   
  


"Lucas, Lucas Smith" he said giving the two new strangers the same false name he had given to 

Bob and Sandra Stevens back on the first night at the Service Station.   
  


"Well Lucas Smith" Howard said, at the moment he had nothing to doubt who the boy said he 

was, "What brings somebody as young as you way out in these parts on your own. Where is 

your family and how did you injure you head?"   
  


Lucas inwardly grumbled at the interrogation he was getting, but he knew it was all part of 

the scheme of things. He couldn't just fall down unconscious on somebody's doorstep, get 

helped by them and expect them not to ask questions about how he got to be injured in the 

first place.   
  


"I'm travelling around looking for a job" Lucas said honestly. He just left out the parts about 

running away from his friends and family. That was information that these people didn't need 

to know at this time.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"I was walking along the highway the other night when these two guys jumped me and 

kidnapped me" he admitted. His head was hurting so much that he lacked the brain power 

to think of a good enough excuse for his head wound at the moment.   
  


"Kidnapped" Amy exclaimed loudly. "Why in the world would they do such a horrible 

thing like that?"   
  


"I think they thought I could make them a few quick bucks, that's all" Lucas replied "But 

they drugged me a couple times so I am still getting over the effects. I was tied up in the 

back of their car a short while ago when I managed to escape. I head butted one of them and 

that's when I ran in here."   
  


"I'm sorry that I barged in on you like this" Lucas said as he started to push himself into a 

standing position. He didn't want to burden these good people again like he had done with 

Bob and Sandra Stevens.   
  


Just as Lucas's put his full weight on his left leg, his knee that had troubled before reminded 

him that it was still swollen and bruised from his fall. "AAHH" Lucas exclaimed as he fell 

back on the couch again and held his knee between his hands and tried to massage away 

some of the pain.   
  


"What's the matter?" Howard Sullivan now asked as he watched the boy's handsome face 

contort with the spasms of pain that ran up and down the length of his whole leg.   
  


"Oh um I fell the other night before I was taken when a truck side swiped me" Lucas said 

sheepishly through his grunts of discomfort. The tissue was still very swollen and his running 

from Biff and Danny hadn't helped it any. The pain had been forgotten between now and just 

now when he tried to stand again, probably due mostly to the adrenaline rush he had when 

running away from his captors.   
  


"You really have had a bad day haven't you" Amy said as she sat down beside him on the 

couch and smoothed back his blond hair from his eyes.   
  
  
  
  
  


"How bout you just rest up here a while and leave the rest to us" Howard Sullivan now 

said. He could see the dark rings of fatigue under the boy's eyes and noted the signs 

of travelling alone with little rest or good nourishing food had begun to take there toll on 

the young man's physical well being.   
  


Lucas looked at the two new helpers and sighed loudly in defeat and now laid back completely 

on the couch and closed his eyes. He told himself that he would rest for just a few hours 

as suggested an then be on his way again. A few hours sleep was all he needed to get back 

on his feet. The paracetamol in the aspirin was beginning to kick in and the throb in his head 

and been reduced to a dull roar.   
  


It didn't take long for sleep to claim the weary teenager and Howard and Amy Sullivan walked 

quietly out of the spare room at the back of the Diner and allowed him to get the rest his body 

craved.   
  


"Do you think we should call the police Dad?" Amy said as they walked into the kitchen out 

of earshot.   
  


Howard Sullivan stole a look around his back door and then out the front of the Diner outside 

and then walked back inside to answer his daughter's question. "I think those two hoodlums 

are gone for the time being honey. Let's not get too involved in something that we don't know 

the full story about just yet. Just let him sleep for a while and we can talk to him later about 

it. If he decides that the police are needed, then we will call them. The first people I want 

to get in contact for him is his family. I mean to say that a good looking boy like that has no 

business travelling around on his own to get himself in so much trouble." He saw the look on 

Amy's pretty face and knew that she was still thinking back when he had said "good looking 

boy".   
  


Lucas slept well after the clock read twelve noon. Amy was busy in the kitchen with the 

television set on in the background for company when she saw some sort of news bulletin 

come onto the station.   
  


"Dad, I think you better come see this" Amy said as she wiped her hands on her apron 

and turned the volume up on the small television set above the refrigerator.   
  


"What did you say dear" Howard Sullivan said as he walked back into the kitchen from 

the front counter. There had been a few customers earlier after Lucas had gone to sleep, 

but now even though it was lunch time, the place was now deserted. If trends were correct, 

the steady stream of customers would not come back until early evening now.   
  


Amy ducked her head into the spare room just to check that their visitor was still sound 

asleep and not able to hear the television broadcast.   
  


The announcer has just begun the same introduction to Lucas's missing person plug that 

Bob and Sandra Stevens and Biff and Danny had watched a couple of days ago.   
  


"Ladies and Gentlemen" the silver haired man started "My name is Captain Nathan 

Hale Bridger. This is my colleague and close friend Doctor Kristen Westphalen. 

We are both members of the United Earth Oceans Naval submarine, the SeaQuest."   
  


Amy and Howard Sullivan gave each other the same shocked and stunned look that 

Bob and Sandra Stevens had given each other as they watched the great Captain Nathan 

Bridger explain about the missing teenager.   
  


Like the Stevens's they were also surprised to see the same smiling photograph of Lucas 

displayed for the viewing population. They heard all about the substantial reward offered 

for information leading to finding him and knew now why he had been the target of some 

more unscrupulous characters about these here parts.   
  


The broadcast had just ended and returned to normal scheduled programming when silent 

footsteps walked up behind the Sullivan's.   
  


"I can't believe it Dad" Amy said as she tried to take in all that she had heard in the broadcast.   
  


"Neither can I honey, but it does begin to explain a few things" Howard said.   
  


"Explains a few things about what" came a voice from behind them both that made the two 

of them literally jump out of their skins.   
  
  
  
  
  


"Don't do that" Amy scolded Lucas as she tried to get herself composed. Neither of them 

had heard him from approaching. Thankfully the brief conversation hadn't enlightened the 

young man to the fact that they knew all about him and what had happened.   
  


"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you" Lucas said with a cheeky grin. He walked closer to them 

and they both could notice the distinct limp he had from the injured knee.   
  


"That's alright Lucas" Howard said trying to cover their tracks. He had wanted to rush to 

the phone and call the people on the TV but he knew that he needed to do that without the 

young man knowing or he would be out the door before his family and friends could arrive. 

Something told him that the teenager was trying to stay hidden as long as possible. The 

kidnaping thing sounded like something that had happened out of someone else's greediness 

as they too saw the reward offered.   
  


"You feel like something to eat now your a little bit more awake" Howard asked honestly.   
  


"To tell you the truth, I don't know if I'm that awake at all" Lucas said as he rubbed tiredly 

at his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. "But I won't knock back the offer of something to eat. 

I've got money to pay for it."   
  


"Oh no bother" Howard said "You don't need to pay for it Lucas. You're our guest at 

the moment no matter how you came to being here" he continued not giving the idea of taking 

money from the boy in the slightest.   
  


"You go out with Amy here and I will fix you up something good and bring it out in a few 

minutes with something to wash it down with" Sullivan said. Amy had barely moved from 

the one spot as the two of them had spoken. Howard doubted that she had heard any of the 

ongoing conversation. At the moment she only had eyes for the handsome newcomer that 

had literally fallen into her lap. Well his lap maybe, but who was counting score.   
  


Amy guided Lucas over to one of the two person tables at the back of the Diner restaurant 

and cleared the table in front of them. Partly to clear space for the meal that was due to come 

at any moment and partly so that she could continue to gaze into those sky blue eyes with an 

unobstructed view.   
  
  
  


Lucas made himself more comfortable by elevating his aching knee onto a spare chair beside 

him. And then looked for a topic to start the awkward conversation that wasn't coming.   
  


"So tell me about how you come to be stuck out here practically in the middle of nowhere" 

Lucas said as he cleared the invisible lump in his throat. He was trying hard not to stare 

but it was getting harder and harder not to.   
  


"My story is so boring that it's ridiculous" Amy began with a smile that immediately made 

her whole face glow. "My father married my mother right out of high school. Twelve years 

after they were married, I was born in a little place no bigger than this. When I was six years 

old my mother was diagnosed with cancer and died 3 months later from complications. Ever 

since then its just been me and Dad. We bought this place about 5 years ago and have each 

other to talk to keep us company.   
  


"Wow, that's such a sad story and a happy story all at one" Lucas said. "You and your Dad 

seem to have a great relationship going."   
  


"What about you" Amy asked trying to pry just that little bit more and find out about the 

man she had seen on the television set in the kitchen.   
  


"Me, Oh there's even less to tell than you" Lucas lied "I grew up with parents who just 

hated one another every moment of their entire lives together. I don't know why they bothered 

to get married in the first place. Then I came along and I was just another screw up in their 

long list of achievements in their eyes. I moved out about three years ago and thought I had 

found some new friends, but then that all turned out to be a lie too and so now I on my own 

trying to find out what else there is in life for me."   
  


"That's too bad Lucas" Amy said trying not to let on that she knew more. "I sure that something 

worth while will present itself for you soon enough. You just have to believe in yourself 

and have a little bit of faith that not everything out there is bad. That's what I keep telling 

myself to believe anyway" she said as her cheeks reddened from a sudden rush of embarrassment 

at such sentiments.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"I'm sorry but I find it hard to believe in such things. I have learnt from the school of hard 

knocks that there is only two kinds of people in this world. The Good and the Dead. At the 

moment I don't know which one I am, probably somewhere in the middle. You I thin are 

definitely a Good one" Lucas said as he looked at her and flashed his best smile her way.   
  


Before either of them could continue, Amy's father walked over with two plate of food. 

Good old teenager junk food Lucas noted with hungry eyes as he saw the hamburger laden 

with tomato sauce and the french fries to one side. There was an extra large coke to go with 

it all.   
  


"Now you two eat up" Howard said in mock sternness. "I have some things to attend to out 

back for a while" he said as he tried to secretly emphasis the importance of Lucas staying out 

here to his daughter Amy. She seemed to get the message and gave him a sly wink back in 

return.   
  


Lucas was oblivious to the secret gestures going on in front of him. This was the first decent 

meal he had come across since Sandra's cooking at the Service Station and he was ashamed 

to admit that he was very hungry indeed. The aroma of the food wafted up into his nostrils 

and invigorated every raging teenage hormone known about the consumption of junk food.   
  


Howard Sullivan went back into the kitchen and looked back over the saloon type doors that 

led to the room and watched the two teenagers interact with one another. It had been some 

time since he had seen Amy so relaxed with another person her own age. Not to mention the 

fact that she was totally smitten with the young man. Howard secretly thought that Lucas was 

also sneaking looks at her when she didn't notice. He just hoped that Amy didn't get too 

attached to Lucas. Heaven knew it was about time she started dating, but this young man was 

drifting along an unknown road and he didn't want to see Amy's feelings hurt when he left 

without saying goodbye. Amy had too much heartache in her young life over the death of her 

mother at such an early age that he couldn't bear to be the one to pick up the pieces again 

afterwards.   
  


He picked up the telephone in the back corner and started to dial the number he had memorized 

from the television broadcast.   
  
  
  
  
  


The same young receptionist as before answered the call and thought that the mystery caller 

might be Lucas's kidnapper. She didn't let Howard Sullivan know this but told the stranger 

that she would patch him straight through to Captain Nathan Bridger as she had been instructed 

to do earlier.   
  


Kristen answered the phone at Bob and Sandra Steven's place when it rang. The piercing noise 

made everybody jump at the noise and wonder who was at the other end of the line. 

"Hello" Kristen said cautiously with everybody else as her silent audience.   
  


"Kristen, it's me", the girl said in a whisper "I think I have one of the kidnapers on the line again".   
  


"Thank you, just patch him through like we asked, everything will be okay if we just all remain 

calm" Kristen said. It was really herself that she was saying these words too. Her nerves were 

almost shot to pieces as it was. The thought that Lucas's kidnapers might be on the line right 

at this very moment almost tipped her emotions over the edge of no return.   
  


Kristen handed the phone to Kristen and repeated to him what the young receptionist had told 

her. Nathan paled a little at first like Kristen but then made himself stand up straight and compose 

himself before taking hold of the receiver. He too was having private conversations with himself. 

He was telling himself that he needed to be strong for Lucas's sake. He needed to be forceful 

but also willing to negotiate for Lucas's life if it came down to that.   
  


"Hello Captain Nathan Bridger speaking" Nathan said as he wiped his free hand on his trousers 

to relieve the sweaty palm.   
  


"Captain Bridger, you won't know who I am, but I have somebody here that you will be very 

interested in seeing. I can't talk long before or he might walk in and get suspicious." Howard 

Sullivan stated.   
  


Bridger's heart was in his mouth as he realised that this person was actually not one of the 

kidnappers. The man said he had somebody with him. A he had been mention. He only 

prayed to God with everything that he had that the mysterious caller meant Lucas.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Lucas Smith, one of your young friends, turned up here this morning at my Diner" Sullivan 

continued. "He said he was running from some people who meant him harm, and he appeared 

to be hurt because he stumbled through the front door and collapsed unconscious in my arms 

before I could get too much out of him. Don't worry, he's a little bit better now, but still 

limping from a swollen knee. He seems to be reluctant to mention any family who might be 

wanting to get in contact with him. That's why I am making this call in secret so he doesn't 

find out. I didn't want him running off again before I got a chance to get in contact with you. 

My daughter Amy and I saw your broadcast on the television and could scarcely believe our 

eyes. Amy is keeping him company at the moment and I think we could manage to persuade 

him to stay until dusk, but after that I don't know."   
  


"Don't worry Sir, we will be on our way in a few minutes. Just tell me exactly where you 

are and leave the rest to us. Whatever you do, please don't let him leave again before we 

get there. I promise I will explain everything once we get there." Bridger said. "I can't 

tell you how relieved and grateful Lucas's family and friends are about this news."   
  


Bridger and Sullivan exchanged details for a few more minutes and Bridger promised that 

they would be on the road in less than a heart ache. He had told Howard Sullivan that they 

expected to be there a little after dark due to the almost three hour journey ahead of them.   
  


"We'll be waiting for you Captain. I hope everything works out for you and him. He seems 

like such a likeable young man as my daughter will tell you." Sullivan said as he started to 

chuckle and hung up from the call.   
  


Bridger hung up from his end and turned around to see a dozen anxious faces looking at him 

for an explanation. He smiled a little and then said "Well, that wasn't the kidnapers at all. 

The good news is that Lucas managed somehow to get away from them. He's a little hurt and 

worse for wear the caller said, but nothing that we can't fix. In the mean time while we have 

been worried sick about him, he has found himself a girlfriend."   
  


Everyone sighed a huge sigh of relief at this information and started to laugh at the idea of 

Lucas being with a girl as well.   
  


"Taught him everything he knows" Ben Kreig said with an air of confidence about him.   
  
  
  


"Oh that's all he needs right now Krieg" Miguel replied as he rolled his eyes at the thought 

of Lucas practicing Krieg famous lines on the unbeknown young lady. Everyone once again 

started to laugh until Bridger told them to get ready to leave.   
  


"Do you mind if we travel alone as well Captain?" Bob said as he got the appropriate signal 

from Sandra about wanting to see that Lucas was okay for herself. "I'm afraid me and 

Sandra have become quite attached to Lucas as well."   
  


"By all means, Bob, you and Sandra are most welcome. You have done more for Lucas 

than we could possibly thank you for." Bridger said as he headed out towards the transports.   
  


**************************************************************************   
  


Howard Sullivan walked back out into the Diner's main area when he had hung up from talking 

to Captain Bridger just to keep up appearances.   
  


He walked over to the two teenagers and sat down beside Amy. Somehow his daughter knew 

that it was time to find something else to do while her father had a heart to heart talk to Lucas.   
  


Lucas saw Amy getting up and leaving the room and immediately went on the defensive foot.   
  


"How are you doing Lucas?" Howard said as he started the conversation of gentle like. 

He had tried to have a number of these heart to heart talks with his own daughter Amy and 

failed on a number of occasions that he would rather forget.   
  


"Fine Mr Sullivan, just fine" Lucas said keeping in line with the questioning.   
  


"Howard" Sullivan said "Just Howard Lucas, you're amongst friends here. Although new 

ones that are deeply concerned enough about you." he added. He saw the mask cover over 

Lucas's face as soon as he said these words. It was as if Lucas pulled the curtains down 

so others could not see in. If they saw in, then Lucas would feel more vulnerable than he 

could ever imagine and he would lose that sense of control that came from keeping everything 

hidden.   
  
  
  
  
  


"Can I ask you something Howard" Lucas said as his gaze remained fixated on the table 

in front of him. The pattern on the tablecloth immediately became his focus point as he 

tried to work things out in his head for himself.   
  


"Sure Lucas, ask away" Howard said a little intrigue at Lucas wanting to open up to a 

perfect stranger. Maybe it was the perfect stranger thing that made it easier for the boy 

to open up.   
  


"What would you do if ........... " Lucas started and proceeded to tell Howard Sullivan 

about his adventures since leaving SeaQuest. He used his friend's Wolfman as the 

example when he spoke but both of them knew that he was talking about himself and 

his feelings in the whole matter.   
  


He explained about Wolfman overhearing a conversation that was negative towards him. 

He told Sullivan of Wolfman's intention to go off along a different path than the one 

that was carved out in front of him. To leave his family and friends behind and not 

look back to see if he made a mistake.   
  


Howard waited until Lucas had spilled the whole sad story. Of course he left out the 

kidnaping part. The raw emotions that came through were from his own experiences 

and feelings after hearing his family talking about him.   
  


"You know Lucas," Howard began his reply. He knew that in the back of his mind he 

needed to make what he was going to say count. The boy was trying to reach out for 

help and Howard Sullivan suddenly found himself thrust in the role of listener and safety 

net rolled into one.   
  


"After all that I learned in this life" he started "I got through school by the barest of 

margins and when I left I had no idea about what I wanted to do. The next thing I knew 

I was married to the one person in the world who understood me completely. I thought 

the world was pretty good to me for a while. Even had a daughter to prove it. Then 

when I wasn't looking, life dealt me the toughest blow yet and took that one person I 

loved with all of my heart away from me. I felt like I had been stripped to the core and 

left totally defenseless. Just like you friend Wolfman there."   
  
  
  


"For a long time I wandered around aimlessly wondering what to do next. I thought 

that I would never love anybody else like I loved Amy's mother. I thought that the 

world was no good to me anymore and I didn't need to care about myself anymore. 

I was ready to leave the past behind me, maybe forever."   
  


"What did you do" Lucas now asked hanging on Sullivan's every word. He thought he 

was about to hear the words he needed know that he wasn't totally losing his mind. 

The homesickness and loneliness without his family had never been so strong when he 

found himself tied up with Biff and Danny. Now that he was relatively safe again, those 

feelings had not decreased in the slightest.   
  


"One day I looked into my little girl's eyes and knew that life held something else out 

there for me. I picked myself up and dusted myself off and was determined that no matter 

how hard the blow that life dealt, I would beat the depression and find love and understanding 

again. True, I haven't found the right woman yet to replace my wife, but I found the love 

and understanding in a different place entirely, in my daughter Amy. She's the reason I need 

to keep going like I do." Sullivan explained.   
  


"Your friend needs to forget all the hatred and negative feelings he has for his family and 

friends. He needs to remember that we all make mistakes sometimes, even the ones that 

love him and he should let his pride puddle in his boots like mud because of those mistakes. 

If he goes back to them and talks to them, I'm sure he will find that they genuinely still care 

for him and love him more than ever." he added hoping that Lucas would read something 

into the message.   
  


Lucas broke himself away from his concentration and knew somehow that Sullivan knew 

that he had been talking about himself. He didn't know about Howard making the phone 

call to his family however.   
  


"I'll be sure to tell him next time I see him" Lucas said trying to hide himself away again 

and quickly put his drink to his mouth to stop the tears that threatened to fall.   
  


Deep down inside he knew that Howard was right. He had been so hell bent on leaving 

and angry at his family and friends aboard the SeaQuest that he failed to think that they 

still might love him, no matter what he thought he thought he had overheard.   
  


He promised himself that tomorrow he would call home and try to make contact with 

the family he had lost and hoped that somehow they would take him back.   
  


*********************************************************************   
  


It was just on dusk now and Lucas decided that he needed to make himself useful to 

his new friends for being allowed to stay there and helping him when they barely knew him. 

Bob and Sandra Stevens had done the same and this restored his faith in the human 

race just that little bit more. 

"I'll help you in the kitchen if you like Amy" Lucas offered as he noted that customers 

would probably start coming in looking for a bite to eat shortly.   
  


"You don't have to do that, especially with that injured leg of yours Lucas" Amy said 

as she made some preparations at the large workbench in the middle of the room.   
  


"How bout I just take the trash outside and then come back inside and talk to you?" 

he said and flashed another cheeky smile at her.   
  


There was no way that she could resist that grin "Okay, but just outside to the trash 

bins and back, you hear?" he said as he gathered two large black garbage bags in his 

hands and started limping towards the back door to the Diner.   
  


It was dark outside now as he made his way to the trash bins. He had failed to notice 

the parked car only a few feet away from him in the darkness.   
  


*******************************************************************   
  


"You sure about this Danny" Biff asked as he watched the teenager limp awkwardly to 

the trash bins at the back of the Diner. He wasn't so convinced of Danny's latest plan 

to snatch the kid.   
  
  
  


"I'm sure" Danny said as he too watched his victim make his way outside in the darkness, 

oblivious to the threat that lay in wait for him.   
  


"That kid is worth a fortune and I am going to make sure he pays for that little stunt this 

morning" Danny snarled as he felt the large welt left on his forehead.   
  


"You gonna use the chloroform again Danny" Biff asked as he recognized the need to 

silence the kid quickly once they made their move. The last thing they needed was for 

the kid to yell for help from anybody inside and spoil their plan again.   
  


The two of them had left suddenly from the Diner as soon as they were both able to stand 

after Lucas's assault and had driven a few kilometres to think about what to do next. 

They had seen that the kid was unconscious and hoped that he would remain so until they 

could get to him again. They knew that once he was awake, there was a genuine threat 

for him to reveal their identities to not only those inside, but to the authorities as well. 

They didn't need that. For all they knew now, the kid had already talked and they had 

their faces on wanted posters already.   
  


"I've got a different idea this time" Danny said with a grin and withdrew a sherated knife 

from the pocket of his trousers. It wasn't very big, but it would serve their immediate 

purpose and hopefully scare the kid enough for them to snatch him without much trouble.   
  


They both saw the break they were waiting for when one of the garbage bags that Lucas 

had been hauling across the ground break open and spill their contents onto the ground. 

"Oh that's just wonderful" Lucas exclaimed with a few more colourful obscenities under 

his breath as he tried to contemplate the best way to pick up the actual trash without 

getting covered in it or reeking from the smell of it. The last thing he needed at the moment 

was to walk back in to the Diner and have Amy smell him like the old refuse tip.   
  


Danny and Biff got out of their vehicle and silently started making their way towards 

the unsuspecting teenager.   
  


Lucas had his back turned towards them and so was unaware of the danger he was about 

to find himself in.   
  
  
  
  
  


The next thing Lucas knew he was being gruffly from behind. He managed to turn 

his head awkwardly and catch a glimpse of his attackers. He gasped out loud when he 

recognized the assailants as Biff and Danny. Biff immediately clamped a hand tightly 

over the teenager's mouth to prevent him screaming for help.   
  


Lucas tried to fight his two attackers off as best he could but they were just overwhelming. 

He kicked and struggled to the best of his abilities to stop them dragging to the car nearby.   
  


Suddenly there was a gleam of silver in the light of the back door. A knife. 

The blade was about 6 inches long and made of stainless steel. Biff made one final attempt to 

take a hold of the teenager. Lucas kept struggling, trying desperately to get away from these men 

and the knife they held.   
  


Suddenly Lucas felt a searing pain in his side. He stopped his struggles and held his hand 

over the area of pain. He looked at one of his assailants and held his hand up to show it 

covered in blood. The knife had penetrated his skin and left a large gash underneath his 

ribs.   
  


The two men saw the injury and the blood. The looked at the pained expression on 

The teenager's face. They looked at each other briefly and took off the the waiting car. 

They left the bloody knife where it lay on the ground.   
  


As all of this was taking place out the back, the U.E.O. transport containing Bridger 

and his senior crew together with the vehicle owned by Bob and Sandra Stevens 

were parking out the front.   
  


"Are you sure this is the right place Nathan?" Kristen said getting out of the vehicle.   
  


Bridger and the others got out and looked up at the roof and the name written in 

neon letters.   
  


Bridger walked through the front doors and approached a middle aged man standing 

on the other side of the counter.   
  
  
  
  
  


"Hello, my name is Captain Bridger, I believer we spoke on the phone earlier today" 

Nathan greeted the man.   
  


"Howard Sullivan" came the reply. The man inwardly sighed in relief that Lucas's 

family and friends were finally here. He was still a little apprehensive about the reunion 

that was about to take place. He could see the same apprehension and maybe just a little 

touch of guilt written across the face of the man introducing himself as Captain Bridger.   
  


"He's just taking some trash out the back for Amy" Howard said as he could see all them 

craning to catch a glimpse of the face they all yearned to see.   
  


"Can't get him to do that back on SeaQuest" Bridger said with a chuckle. "Have to remember 

to have a girl at the ready next time I ask at home." he added hoping that there would be a 

next time to ask.   
  


Amy had heard the voices in the Diner and now emerged from the kitchen to introduce 

herself. Bridger smiled appreciatively and inwardly noted that there was nothing wrong 

with Lucas's sense of taste.   
  


"Remind me to run away from home soon Miguel" Ben said with a whisper as all of 

them admired the pretty young girl at the counter.   
  


Lucas stumbled towards the back door of the diner still clutching his side. 

He left a trail of red behind him from the trash bins to the back. He had been holding onto 

the wall for support as he made his way out to the front counter before he collapsed 

from the dizziness that threatened to overwhelm him at this very moment. The was a 

long bloody smear to show where he had been.   
  


"Here he comes now" Howard said at the sound of footsteps and now turned to wait 

for Lucas's appearance. He noted after a few seconds that it was a little slower than he 

would have thought, but then maybe the boy was a bit nervous about facing his friends 

and family again.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Lucas hadn't been really concentrating on anything in particular when he came into 

view. The pain in his side took all of his focus at the moment and his efforts to make 

it to help before he lost consciousness.   
  


It wasn't until a split second after they seen the blond head emerge that they noted 

something was dreadfully wrong. They all noted the shuffling and remembered that 

Lucas apparently had an injured leg. But on closer observation they could see another 

cause to the boy's slow progress.   
  


The could see something dripped from Lucas hand that was clutched to his side. 

It took a few more seconds to register that what they could see was blood. Blood 

dripping from Lucas somewhere.   
  


"Lucas" Bridger yelled with terror as he tried to reach the teenager before he lost his balance 

and tumbled to the floor. At the moment he vision was focused only on one person in 

the entire room. How could things turn from feeling like they were getting better to being 

totally torn apart again in such a short space of time he asked himself.   
  


Lucas's brain seemed to recognize the voice that spoke to him. He looked up in the direction 

that the familiar voice had come from and saw Bridger standing there. He gave his Dad the 

most pathetic looking smile he could manage before he could no longer stand up due to the 

pull of unconsciousness.   
  


Bridger just managed to grab a slim hold on him to prevent a more forceful descent. He eased 

the incoherent and bleeding boy to the floor and cradled his head in his lap. He started trying 

to take softly to Lucas enough to rouse him. He wiped the beads of sweat away from his 

forehead but noticed the unfocused and glazed look in the teenager's blue eyes.   
  


"I'm sorry Dad" came the barely audible whisper as Lucas's eyelids began to close "Please 

forgive me" he added and then his head lolled to the side in Bridger's lap as he lost consciousness.   
  


YOU DIDN'T THINK I'D LET YOU SEE THE ENDING JUST YET DID YOU - YOU 

DON'T KNOW ME VERY WELL YET IF YOU DID. MORE TO COME YET.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	8. WHERE I BELONG

ON MY OWN   
  
  
  
  
  


"LUCAS" Bridger now said a little louder, still recovering from the shock of holding the boy 

who was covered with blood. Everyone else in the room was just as concerned as were trying 

to gather round the injured teenager to see where the bleeding was coming from.   
  


Commander Ford and Miguel Ortiz ran to the front door at the sound of squealing tyres 

and only saw the red tail lights of a beat up old Cadillac coming from the rear of the Diner.   
  


"Sorry Captain, couldn't see who it was in that car" Ford said as he walked back over to 

where everybody else was.   
  


Captain Bridger had heard the Commander's comment but didn't give any indication of 

actually understanding what was said.   
  


Amy Sullivan had scurried into the Diner's kitchen and came out with every single bit of 

cloth she could lay her hands on. He handed Bridger a few of the tea towels so he could 

apply some pressure to the still bleeding wound.   
  


"Let me get in there" Kristen said in a gentle but firm voice as she went into doctor mode.   
  


Kristen knelt by the boy's side and started to check him over. She cursed herself for not 

being more prepared and not having her black medical bag available at short notice.   
  


She took Bridger's hand away from the wounded area and carefully lifted up the blood-stained 

t-shirt. The material was absolutely saturated with blood and actually clung to the Lucas's 

torso where the bleeding had soaked in the heaviest.   
  


She grabbed at another clean piece of cloth and started to wipe away the blood to enable her 

to get a better view of the injury. Thankfully, the bleeding had slowed somewhat due to the 

pressure that the Captain had been applying.   
  
  
  


"Hold this here again please" Kristen said to Bridger as she went about checking him elsewhere 

for signs of injury.   
  


Kristen lifted his eyelids and saw the boy's eyes were slightly dilated. This was probably due to 

the blood loss and drop in blood pressure. She didn't have the necessary equipment to check 

his breathing or pulse in detail so she had to do the best she could under the difficult 

circumstances.   
  


The boy's breathing was a little laboured, but much more than she would have expected 

with somebody starting to suffer from blood loss and the initial stages of shock. His 

pulse was a little rapid, but that was probably due mainly to the adrenaline rush he had 

from the fear he had felt just as he was injured.   
  


"Could you get a warm blanket please?" Kristen asked Amy with a smile. She could see 

the fear for Lucas written on the girl's pretty features. "We need to keep his body warm 

in order from him going into full shock. It will help keep his body temperature regulated 

until we can get him to help."   
  


"How are we going to do that though?" Howard Sullivan now asked as his daughter 

went to get the blanket as requested. "The nearest hospital is a good day's drive from here 

I'm afraid."   
  


"That's were my second in charge flexes his muscles" Bridger said with a faint smile. 

"Commander?" he said and glanced to Jonathan Ford hoping he knew what to do.   
  


Without further delay, they all watched as Commander Ford took on his most military 

looking expression and grabbed a hold of his PAL Communicator and started to speak 

into it.   
  


"This is Commander Jonathan Ford of the SeaQuest" he began. "I want a U.E.O. 

Medical Helicopter fully equipped and ready on my instruction within the next 15 minutes 

to a predesignated destination ready to transport an injured crew member to hospital" 

he continued "Do I make myself clear?"   
  
  
  


"Yes-s S-Sir, Commander Sir" came the quiet mouse like voice of the person on the other 

end. "I'll have everything you need when you want it, you just tell me where"   
  


" Thank You, Ford Out" Jonathan ended the conversation and looked up with the look of 

accomplishment on his face. He at least felt he was playing a small part in getting Lucas the 

medical help he needed in a hurry.   
  


"Now you know why he's my right hand man" Bridger said with a slight smirk to Howard 

Sullivan. He knew that he could always rely upon Jonathan to get things done in a crisis.   
  


Bridger returned his attention to Lucas as Amy had returned with a royal blue woollen 

blanket and now handed it to Kristen who then started to drape it over Lucas's unconscious 

form on the floor.   
  


"How do you get yourself into these messes" Bridger whispered to the boy who neither heard 

the question or could provide a verbal answer. He continued to stroke the boy's cheek in 

an attempt to rouse him from his unconscious state. The skin on his hand had started to 

feel a little clammy and cold to the touch. No doubt due to the shock that Kristen was trying 

to ward off with the blanket.   
  


Amy know went to her father and looked at him with pleading eyes "I want to go with them 

to the hospital Dad. I have to make sure he's going to be alright." she said as the tears 

welled up in her eyes.   
  


Now was the first time that Bob and Sandra Stevens had spoken since arriving at the Diner. 

Like the others they were just too shocked with how they had seen Lucas to find the words 

to say. They had kept their distance a little, thinking that they would only be in the way. 

But this did not diminish their fears any degree. They too were very concerned over the boy 

who had come to mean so much to them in such a short space of time.   
  


"You are both welcome to come with us" Bob Stevens now said to Howard Sullivan. He and 

Sandra had every intention of following the SeaQuest crew to the hospital as well to see how 

Lucas was. They would travel via their own vehicle and there was more than enough room for 

two more passengers. Just like them that could see the effect that Lucas's personality had on 

these relative strangers.   
  


Commander Ford had given the UEO Medical Helicopter pilot the directions to the Diner 

and the machine could soon be heard hovering just above the highway below.   
  


"Can't see the sense in staying here" Howard Sullivan said with a wink to his daughter "Doesn't 

look like trade is going to pick up tonight anyway."   
  


Two medical personnel had entered the small Diner with a stretcher and now made their 

way over towards the crowd and injured teenager.   
  


Bridger hated the idea of having to relinquish the teenager to these people, but he knew that 

it had to be done. The boy needed more help than he could provide at the moment. Once 

he was mended and recovering, there would be time for explanations and words of comfort.   
  


Everyone stood back momentarily as Kristen instructed the medical team on how to pick 

up the injured boy and place him on the stretcher. Lucas gave a few moans of pain as he 

was moved but showed no signs of regaining consciousness.   
  


"Nathan, you can come with us" Kristen said "The rest of you I'm afraid will have to make 

your way by road. There just isn't enough room for us all in the helicopter."   
  


"You just take good care of him, you hear" Ben Krieg said with a lump rising to the back of 

his throat. He laid a gently hand on the still form covered with the blanket as the stretcher was 

lifted from the ground and they started to make their way out to the waiting helicopter.   
  


"He'll be alright Lieutenant" Kristen said soothingly "By the time you meet us there, he will 

be all patched up and sleeping comfortably in a bed. He'll be fine, wait and see."   
  


Ben nodded his head and followed the others outside to the transport. They would all be 

ready to go at a moment's notice as soon as the helicopter lifted off the ground.   
  


Howard and Amy Sullivan made a hurried check of things and locked up behind them and 

made preparations to climb into the Steven's vehicle ready for the long trip to the hospital.   
  


*************************************************************************   
  


In the helicopter in the air, the medical team just stood back as Kristen hovered over her 

injured patient and rummaged through the medical supplies and took what she needed.   
  


At some stage during the flight, Lucas had tried to regain consciousness. He moved his 

head back and forward on the pillow trying to shake off the intense pain down his side.   
  


He opened his eyes when the pain didn't ease hoping to find a cause to him feeling so 

awful. He remembered very little of the stabbing incident at this stage. He looked about 

with a blurry gaze. He noted that the fabric of the blanket that covered him was itching 

his wound some and causing it to itch. He didn't have the strength to lift his arm and 

try and scratch the problem area.   
  


Bridger had been watching him the whole time since they boarded the helicopter and 

put on his bravest smile for the boy as Lucas's gaze fixed upon him. "Just lay still, Lucas, 

everything will be alright." he said. He was not really convincing to himself or the boy 

he was trying to comfort.   
  


Lucas sole concentration had to be on the pain that was radiating up and down his body 

at the moment. Apart from the pain, he suddenly felt cold and was grateful for the warmth 

that the blanket offered, even if it itched like crazy.   
  


Kristen watched the facial expressions that were exchanged between Lucas and Bridger and 

saw a yearning in both of them to talk to each other and make amends. But at the moment, 

the most important thing was to get Lucas well again.   
  


"He really needs to rest first Nathan" Kristen said with regret. She hated to interfere with 

the tenuous relationship that was trying to re-establish itself but at the moment, it was necessary.   
  


"There will be lots of time to talk later" Kristen said as she put a comforting hand on his arm 

"He really needs to rest and conserve his strength before we get to the hospital" she continued. 

She soon realised that her speech was not needed however as the boy was rapidly falling back 

asleep. Kristen had already prepared a syringe of pain killer and now injected the drowsy boy 

with the clear fluid to try and ease some of his pain. By the time she had removed the needle 

from his arm, he was fully lost in sleep again and probably wouldn't wake up for quite some time.   
  


The trip seemed to take forever for Bridger who just wanted to get the boy to help as quickly 

as possible. After what seemed liked an eternity, he could hear the helicopter pilot talking 

to the small town hospital that was to be their destination. It wasn't a first class medical 

facility, but the one doctor on roster was dedicated and would help Lucas as much as he could.   
  


The site of a medical helicopter landing just outside the local town hospital did cause a slight 

eyesight for the local residence, but the people inside were only interested in getting the 

patient inside and getting him well again.   
  


Lucas's stretcher was put on a trolley with wheels and then shuffled off inside to the emergency 

department. Thankfully it was a small town hospital and there were no other immediate 

cases taking up the doctor's valuable time. His name was Doctor Roland Roberts and he had 

been briefed at the patient arriving while they were still in the air.   
  


As the stretcher made it's way into the hospital, the doctor signalled where exactly they could 

leave the trolley in safety. Kristen introduced herself and told the local doctor of her medical 

qualifications. She told the man the name of the young patient lying on the stretcher and then 

quickly introduced the Captain who refused to leave the boy's side. The doctor was about 

to ask Bridger to leave again when Kristen explained not only his relationship to the young 

patient, but assured the doctor that the boy would be more at ease if he suddenly woke up 

with the Captain for support. The doctor listened to the arguments and finally gave in and 

told Bridger that he could stay as long as he liked around the injured boy.   
  


*************************************************************************   
  


Back on the highway, the rest of the SeaQuest crew travelled along the road at a quicker 

pace than normal. Their vehicle was followed by the Stevens's car which also carried the 

Sullivan's and their pet dog MAC. Bob Steven's thought the company of his canine 

friend might help the boy's recovery. The dog had been very out of sorts since the teenager 

had left so suddenly.   
  


What all of them failed to notice was an old beat up Cadillac that also trailed 

the two vehicles in front. The Cadillac travelled some distance back from the other two out 

of worry of being seen. However, it maintained the same route as the others, hoping that 

the two occupants inside would soon learn the fate of their young kidnap victim.   
  


Their only hoped that they could reach the boy before he was able to take to authorities 

and name them as his kidnappers.   
  


Somehow they would need to wait until everybody was out of the room and try and 

keep the boy from spilling what he knew.   
  


***********************************************************************   
  


Doctor Roberts washed his hands and prepared to take a look at his young patient. Kristen 

had also scrubbed up and was prepared to assist in any capacity needed. There was a nurse 

present as well to document the injuries. Kristen had told the doctor the circumstances 

surrounding the boy's suspicious injuries and she wanted them noted in case they could be 

used to arrest the culprits at a later date.   
  


The first thing Doctor Roberts did was to administer a light sedative to Lucas. He knew that 

Kristen had given the boy a small dose of morphine during the flight, but he wanted to 

minimize as much movement as possible while he conducted his examination. He didn't 

even know what the extent of the injuries were yet. The sedation would be mild enough 

to keep Lucas still and allow him some relief from any pain as he slept.   
  


Bridger kept out of the medical team's way and remained at the head of the stretcher, 

ready to administer and comfort and shed as much love as possible to the boy that he had 

thought he might have driven away due to his carelessness. The fact that he was injured in 

the first time was due to his thoughtlessness. If Lucas hadn't heard the conversation, then 

he wouldn't have run away, he wouldn't have been at the hands of kidnappers and he 

wouldn't be lying in this hospital bed right now. Just about everyone of Bridger's questions 

he had in his head started with IF.   
  


Using a pair of scissors, Doctor Roberts and Kristen now cut away the boy's blood-stained 

t-shirt. It wouldn't be needed much more.   
  


Now that the bleeding had completely stopped, it was much easier to see the source of the 

blood. There was a long uneven gash along the boy's rib cage that ran from front to back and 

was about ten centimetres long. They gently used a some water to wash the blood from the 

area to get a better look. Once the area was clean, they could gauge that the gash was about 

one centimetre deep. It hadn't been deep enough to effect any vital organs on the inside, but 

it had torn through the true skin and would be painful for a couple of months until it healed 

completely.   
  


Bridger tried not to look at the wound. Every time he saw it he blamed himself and promised 

himself that he needed to talk to Lucas as soon as he was well enough to comprehend what 

he had to say.   
  


"Looks like it was made by some sort of sharp instrument, Dr Westphalen" Roberts said as 

he continued his examination. "Luckily it isn't too deep. It will require a number of stitches 

to close the wound together. It will need to be redressed daily with clean bandages and it will 

need to be monitored carefully for signs of infection. But so long as movement, particularly 

movement to the side or rash action can be restricted, the wound should start to close itself 

and begin to mend nicely. The boy will need to have regular pain medication for the next 

month or so as he heals. If the facilities aboard this SeaQuest are as good as you say they are, 

I think the boy should be able to return there under your medical supervision within a few 

days. Provided of course there is no onset of infection or other unforseen complications."   
  


"Thank you Doctor Roberts" Kristen said. "If you and I attend to Lucas and get him settled 

in his room while the Captain here fills out the necessary administration paperwork" she said 

as she turned to Nathan. Nathan nodded and was very reluctant to leave the teenager until 

he at least showed signs of waking up. He finally sighed loudly and resigned himself to his 

task of filling out the numerous forms that needed a parent's or guardian's signature to admit 

Lucas to a ward in the hospital.   
  


About an hour later, Kristen came out into the waiting room where Bridger was still filling 

out the form. There were any number of questions that Bridger didn't know the answers 

to. Like what Lucas's blood type was. What his mother's maiden name had been. What 

if any allergies he might have had to certain types of medication. It was just another few 

hundred to add to the list that was headed up THINGS NOT KNOWN ABOUT LUCAS. 

Being a guardian, anybody would have normally expected Bridger to know some of the 

answers. But Lucas was a very private person and there was still a multitude of things from 

his past that he wanted to remain a secret even from his new Dad.   
  


"He's settled into the ward now."Kristen said as she sat down and explained what she knew. 

"It took fifteen stitched to close the wound properly so he is going to be very sore for the 

next few days. Especially when those stitches start pulling at the skin tries to close back over 

the wound."   
  


"You can go and see him now if you like. But remember he will be very groggy at first 

and might not know where he is."Kristen explained "I know you two have a lot to talk 

about so I will leave the two of you alone for a while. Just remember that he will be in 

some pain. You will have to be patient and understanding. Call if you think he needs 

.anything or if his pain becomes excessive."   
  


Bridger handed Kristen the half completed forms and started to walk down the corridor 

that led to the boy's bed. Lucas was in the hospital's most monitored room at the moment. 

He wasn't hooked up to any machinery yet, but it was all there if the need arose. The 

room was made up of a large wall in the middle where Lucas's bed was on the other side and 

a door way on either side of the wall. One to the left and one to the right just in case entry 

to the room needed to be gained in a hurry.   
  


Bridger entered the room through the door closed to him on the right. The left hand side door 

was further down the corridor. When he walked into the room his eyes needed to adjust to 

the powerful lighting in the room.   
  


A nurse was just leaving as Bridger was coming in.   
  


"I just opened a window a little in the room to allow the air to circulate some" she said 

"The air conditioning is not working so well in the room and because we are a small town 

hospital, we are not likely to get funding in a hurry. I'm sorry for the second class facilities 

we have to offer your son at the moment Mr Bridger." she replied truthfully.   
  


"You see to it that my son get well again and I'll talk to whoever is necessary to get that 

extra funding" Bridger answered. These people had been there for Lucas when he needed 

them the most so it was the least he could do for them.   
  


The nurse returned an appreciative smile and left the room. She didn't really think that anything 

would come of his promise, but it never hurt to believe she supposed.   
  


Bridger walked over to the bed and looked down at the figure laying on the crisp white linen 

sheets and the thin cotton patchwork quilt that was spread over the top.   
  


Lucas looked so incredibly vulnerable as he lay in the bed right now. The sheets and quilt 

were only pulled up half way so as to expose from his waist up. Bridger could help but see 

the thick layers of padding and bandaging that encircled the boy's midriff to just under his 

arms.   
  


Fifteen stitches sounded like an awful lot to him. It sounded very painful and he wished he 

could wish it all away before the boy had a chance to wake up to the pain he was going to 

be in for.   
  


Apparently the sedative he had been given had been mild as promised and as these thoughts 

ran through his head, the boy started shifting slightly on the bed. He moved his head from 

side to side on the pillows and tried to roll away from the pain he felt burning in his side. 

As soon as he moved though the pain flared into sharp jabbing ones that ran down his whole 

left side and he couldn't hide the gasp that was on the his lips.   
  


Bridger pulled up a chair from the corner of the room and took the sleep limp hand in his 

own as he waited for the boy to wake a little more before bombarding him with sounds and 

words.   
  


Lucas felt somebody holding his hand but at first it didn't register who it might have been. 

He was still trying to figure out where he was and why and why the hell he hurt so bad. 

Flashes started occurring in his mind and he could remember seeing the flash of silver before 

the burst of pain from his side. That was where the pain was coming from now.   
  


He gasped out loud as he remembered seeing the faces of Biff and Danny and all at once 

he tried to sit up as if trying to flee once again from his kidnappers. His short burst of energy 

was soon spent though and he had to bite down on the inside of his cheek and hold his breath 

at the searing pain that the motion of sitting up had on his wound and the stitches that held 

it all in place.   
  


Bridger had been so surprised when Lucas sat up so suddenly that the boy had almost tumbled 

out of the bed. "Whoa Lucas are you alright?" he asked as he watched the pain move across 

the boy's face in waves and shadows.   
  


Lucas nodded his head in answer because it was the only action he could manage without 

screaming out from the pain he had in his side.   
  


Bridger wasn't fooled though by Lucas's attempts to act brave in front of him. As Lucas 

turned to face his Dad, Nathan could see the same deep down feeling of dread that had been 

building up that he had himself felt after the teenager's departure.   
  


"Seeing how your still a little too out of it, how bout I start this conversation" Bridger 

said in soft tones as he made the boy look at him and take in every word he was about to say.   
  


"Lucas, I know what you think you heard that night" Bridger began and Lucas tried to turn 

his head away already in shame at what he had thought.   
  


Bridger took the boy by the chin gently but firmly and kept going "And if I could only take 

those words back, I would. They weren't about you, I don't know if you know that by know?" 

he asked and waited for Lucas to nod his head slightly in reply. "They weren't for you, but 

I can understand from what was said why you would think we were talking about you."   
  


"I feel like I'm on trial here" Bridger said as he ran a nervous hand through his silvering hair 

and tried to find the words to make all of Lucas's hurt go away.   
  


"You want to hear my side first then?" Lucas asked in a heavy voice as a result of the sedation.   
  


"Okay" Bridger said, grateful for the chance for the boy to open up to him. "Tell me what 

you feel inside Lucas, I really need to know."   
  


"I know that I am supposed to forget all about my other life and just begin again when you 

adopted me" Lucas said. He looked down at the patterned bedspread the whole time he spoke 

just to keep focus and to hide the tears that threatened.   
  


"But it's like there's this little boy inside of me that will always be afraid on my past. Afraid 

of the past, the future, the unknown. No courage to speak up for myself. No courage to ask 

for love and affection when I need it. When I was living at home, my father literally drummed 

it in to me that to show any emotion at all was for the weak."   
  


"The reasons why didn't matter. If you showed weakness in his eyes, then you were weak 

in his eyes. I guess that's how I will always be perceived by him no matter what I do. Once 

you get into that mode of thinking, it's kind of hard to accept anything different. Especially 

the love and friendship that you, Kristen and the SeaQuest crew have shown me. It's like I 

have been told to toss the old learning book aside and learn from scratch again. And to be 

totally honest with you, I don't know if I can do that again."   
  


"I guess old habits die hard, like they say" Lucas said and finally looked at Bridger for his 

reaction to his explanation.   
  


"I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me for running away. I spoke to a friend 

once (Howard Sullivan) who reminded me that I needed to put my own selfish pride aside 

and accept the love that's offered now because your friends and family might not be there 

tomorrow for you to tell them." Lucas said.   
  


Bridger now moved closer to the boy so Lucas could rest his head on the Captain's shoulder 

as the tears now ran down his cheeks. "I wish I could take it all back" Lucas whispered 

through his soft sobs. "I'm sorry."   
  


"You've got nothing to be sorry for Lucas" Bridger said as he found it hard to gain control of 

his own emotions. "It's me that should be sorry."   
  


"When you left that night, I felt like I was the one who had driven you out. My heart had this 

black hole in it where you had been. It was like losing Robert and Carol all over again but worse 

because I had caused the hurt this time. I know it's hard to let go of the past. But please 

believe me when I say that I will be there for you every step of the way, no matter what. If you 

need to talk I'll be there. If you need anything else or just a hug to say everything's all right, just 

let me know. Please don't shut me out again because I don't think this old ticker of me could 

last through something like this again."   
  


For the next half an hour, Lucas and Bridger poured each others feelings and emotions out 

to one another. Kristen had approached the door at one stage and heard part of the conversation 

and knew that she would only be intruding if she interrupted him.   
  


Lucas had explained to Bridger about his movements after he left the island. He even told him 

about his secret feelings towards Amy Sullivan that seemed to grow almost overnight.   
  


He told him all the sordid details about him being kidnapped and drugged on the highway by Biff 

and Danny. He told Bridger that it was these same two characters that had stabbed him behind 

the Diner. Bridger promised him that he would contact the righful authorities and have Biff 

and Danny arrested as soon as possible for kidnapping, assault and attempted murder.   
  


Bridger could see that Lucas's staying power was waning fast and the boy was almost asleep 

on his shoulder. He managed to maneuver himself enough from the boy's side without jostling 

his stitched too much. The boy let out a few soft moans of pain but mostly grinned and bore 

the constant ache that seemed to be in his side now.   
  


"You spend a few days resting and we will soon have you back aboard the SeaQuest and 

recovering quicker than ever." were some of the last words that Lucas heard as his head 

touched the pillows.   
  


"The other crew members should be here shortly. You rest for a while and you can have 

some visitors later on" Bridger said as he covered the boy to his shoulders and went to 

leave the boy sleep for a while. He knew that the boy had gritted his teeth through much of 

the pain he was experiencing while they talked. He was just grateful to have him safe and 

sound again.   
  


"Love you kiddo" he whispered at the doorway as he took a last glance back at the sleeping 

figure under the covers.   
  


Out in the waiting room, the other SeaQuest crew members were just arriving and being 

told by Kristen how Lucas was doing. They all sighed in relief at the news that he would 

be alright after some rest. They all promised to help him in this recovery once they were 

back aboard SeaQuest. They all had murderous thoughts for Biff and Danny as they 

were told the full details of Lucas's kidnapping and stabbing.   
  


Ben Krieg almost had to be physically restrained as anger laced through him at the thought 

of Lucas at the hands of such people.   
  
  
  


"Your probably going to be one of the first he wants to see when he wakes up again Ben" 

Bridger said to the Lieutenant. "I know how you feel, but right now we have to leave those 

two characters to the authorities and concentrate on getting Lucas back home again where 

he belongs. He really needs to be reminded that he had family and friends that love him at 

the moment."   
  


Ben slumped down in a chair but wasn't very happy about the whole situation.   
  


Kristen and Bridger looked at each other and could see that the Lieutenant was being torn 

up inside over his friend.   
  


"Ben, the others and us are going to get something to eat and sit down for five minutes" 

Bridger started to say "How bout you go and sit with Lucas for a few minutes. He'll be asleep, 

but I think you would feel better if you could sit with him wouldn't you?"   
  


"Yes please" Ben said as he hurried off to be with his friend.   
  


Ben walked silently into the room and looked down at his sleeping friend and sat in the 

chair that Bridger had occupied earlier.   
  


Outside the hospital, Biff and Danny had parked a few blocks away from the little hospital 

and now made their way towards a back entrance, trying not to be seen. They were unaware 

that Lucas had already told Bridger who they were and were determined to silence the boy 

before he could talk to anybody.   
  


They had started to walk towards a back entrance when they spied the open window the nurse 

had spoken to Bridger about earlier. They cautiously took a look inside and could scarcely 

believe their luck when they spied the blond haired teenager asleep on the bed inside the room.   
  


Ben Krieg had up until a few seconds ago been sitting in the chair and would have seen the two 

of them creep in the open window. But he had stepped out to get a drink of water.   
  


Captain Bridger had now eaten his meal and was now approaching the corridor from the other 

side to check on Ben and Lucas.   
  


Both of them had no idea of the dangers that lurked within the room where Lucas was sleeping.   
  


Biff and Danny had tiptoed over to Lucas's bed and now looked down at the boy as he slept 

on, oblivious to their presence. The boy had fallen into a deep sleep due to the residual effects 

of the sedative and the exhaustion his body felt from blood loss and pain from the stab wound.   
  


The two of them could see the bandages around the boy's waist, but at the moment, there only 

concern was getting the boy out of the room before somebody saw them.   
  


Biff now put his big hands back over Lucas's mouth as the boy slept and started to try and drag 

the boy from his hospital bed.   
  


The first thing Lucas actually felt was the pain, not Biff's hand over his mouth. The pain he 

felt as he was unceremoniously hauled from the bed was excruciating. The stitches felt like 

they were pulling in all directions and Lucas had an overwhelming feeling of dizziness as well 

as the pain.   
  


He opened his eyes to see the reason for the increase in pain and once again his heart leapt in 

fear as he saw the faces of his kidnappers Biff and Danny. He had thought himself safe from 

these two after Bridger had talked to him. He had felt completely safe in his Dad's arms only 

to find that security now shattered to pieces. He couldn't rely on hospital security either 

because in such a small isolated hospital it probably didn't even exist.   
  


Lucas used all the strength he could muster whilst trying to cope with the increasing pain in 

his side to remove the hand over his mouth and cry for help. If he could just cry out he was 

sure that his Dad would come and help him before they could hurt him again. The hand 

had a vice like grip on him though and wouldn't release in the slightest at his feeble attempts.   
  


Biff managed to grab the boy around the waist and held the terrified boy in front of him. He 

was unaware that the whimpering that now came from Lucas weren't to cry out for help, but 

came as the result of his arm pressing against the wound and stitches in his side. Some of the 

stitches had been torn slightly and had even begun to bleed slightly. But the blood couldn't 

be seen yet under the thick layers of padding and bandages. Lucas felt his hold on conscious 

slipping and tried desperately to alert somebody else in the hospital to his situation.   
  
  
  
  
  


Just as Biff had managed to grab a hold of the teenager, Ben Krieg walked in the left hand 

side door and Bridger walked in the right hand side door.   
  


Both of them cried out in alarm as they saw the frightened teenager once again being held 

against his will. Bridger assumed that these were the two thugs that had tried to hold him 

ransom in the first place and the two that had ultimately stabbed him outside the Diner.   
  


"LET HIM GO NOW" Bridger roared at the top of his voice.   
  


"YOU BACK OFF OLD MAN" Biff said gruffly as he now held Lucas in front of him as 

a human shield and started to walk towards the same door the Captain had come in. 

There was no reason to hide their presence now so they decided as long as they held the 

trump card in the kid, they could walk out and get away before any police showed up.   
  


Bridger and Krieg now did as they were told and were wary of the fact that these two held 

Lucas's life in their hands. They could see the pain and exhaustion written all over the boy 

and noted the small splotch of blood that now showed through the white bandages.   
  


Bridger and Krieg eventually found themselves backing out into the corridor towards the front 

door of the hospital.   
  


The shouting and commotion had alerted the rest of the SeaQuest crew and the hospital staff 

of the boy's plight as Biff and Danny walked out into the hospital's foyer with their hostage 

firmly held in front of them.   
  


"IF ANY OF YOU THINK OF BEING HERO, THINK AGAIN" Danny now yelled at 

the crew who had their weapons drawn and ready to fire "I SWEAR TO GOD WE WILL 

ICE THIS KID, NOW BACK OFF"   
  


The crew looked to Bridger for advice as to what to do and slowly lowered their guns as 

the Captain shook his head and warned them not to allow Lucas to be hurt any further.   
  


Kristen was concerned not only for the boy's apparent terror, but she could see the fresh 

blood on the bandages and knew that the boy's wound needed to be attended to again. 

If these two thugs escaped and took Lucas with them as a hostage, there was no telling 

what they would do to him.   
  


Bob and Sandra Stevens and Howard and Amy Sullivan could only watch on in horror 

as they saw the teenager in the grasp of two desperate men. They couldn't believe that 

this poor boy was still going through hell.   
  


Biff and Danny now managed to back out through the front doors with their hostage still 

in front of them. They were almost ready to dive into one of the park cars and take off 

with Lucas when suddenly Bob Stevens got an idea of somebody who might be able to 

stop their escape.   
  


Bob Stevens let out a shrill whistle and got a strange look from all involved except for 

his wife Sandra and Lucas who somehow knew exacting what he was doing.   
  


Biff was too busy worrying about watching the SeaQuest crew with their lowered weapons 

to see anybody else moving up behind him.   
  


"Um Biff" Danny began as he saw the danger coming but he wasn't quick enough to get 

the rest of his sentence out and the next thing he heard was the sound of gnashing teeth 

on flesh and the blood curdling scream that came from his partner Biff as Mac the 

Rottweiler sank his teeth into Biff's unprotected behind.   
  


Biff immediately released his grip on Lucas and the teenager instinctively dropped to the 

ground as the senior crew made their move and pounced on the two would be kidnappers.   
  


Biff and Danny soon found themselves both face down on the ground outside the hospital's 

front door with their hands restrained behind their backs. Both of them knew that they 

were in for a lot of trouble and seemed to be resigned to accepting their intended fate now.   
  


Lucas now sat on the ground where he had dropped to while getting his fair share of ecstatic 

licks from MAC. Bridger and Kristen had rushed over to the injured boy as too had Amy 

Sullivan. Lucas seemed to be rousing on the dog in a firm but fading voice but on closer 

observation by a doctor's eye, Kristen soon noted the pain that the boy was experiencing 

from the retorn stitches in his side.   
  
  
  


Bridger and Kristen helped the woozy boy to his unsteady feet and were about to take him 

back inside to be looked at again before being put back to bed. Before they got to the door, 

Bob Stevens started to talk to the teenager.   
  


Bob and Sandra tried to give the idea of having Lucas as their adopted son one final last 

chance. They knew it was only a half-hearted attempt, but they needed to try anyway.   
  


"Um Lucas" Bob started nervously "You know that you will always have a home and a job 

back at the Service Station if things don't work out you know."   
  


Kristen and Bridger noted the sad tone in the Stevens's eyes and wished they could do something 

to ease the loss for them over Gavin.   
  


It was now Howard Sullivan's turn to add his offer as well as his daughter Amy now edged him 

forward. "That goes for us too Lucas. You will always be welcome at the Diner. Amy had 

already told me that you two plan to keep in contact after you get out of here."   
  


Lucas now smiled a genuine and warm smile at the two families that were willing to take him 

in, no questions asked. "You know that one day I might just take you both up on that offer. 

And yes, it's true Mr Howard, Amy and I will be seeing a lot more of each other he said with 

a twinkle in his eyes as he looked at Amy."   
  


Lucas looked back at Captain Bridger, to Kristen and the SeaQuest crew however and had 

one final comment to add "But for now, I have a family and friends that are waiting for me 

back home ready to love me for just who I am. And that's the best feeling in the world right 

now." he said and put his arm around his two favourite people and started his shuffle back 

towards the hospital.   
  


THE END.......SORRY BUT IT'S TIME TO END THIS ONE FOR NOW. 

HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT.   
  


EPILOGUE...... Lucas went back to the SeaQuest after three days of hospitalization and 

still has pain from his side for two months. He and Amy Sullivan had exchanged telephone 

numbers and are always talking to each other over the webnex. And who knows, down the 

track their paths might cross again unexpectedly. But for now, Lucas and Bridger are just 

content to spent their time trying to rekindle that relationship that had once been so strong 

and true. He still visits Bob and Sandra Stevens a few times a year, even pumps a few 

litres of fuel for Bob and gets a few more wet licks from his friend MAC. He found the 

real Lucas Wolenczak. He really wasn't lost at all, just hidden a little until the blanket of 

unsurety and disappointment was lifted up and thrown again and replaced by the warmth of 

love and understanding.   
  


Biff and Danny were tried and when it came time to give evidence, both blamed each other 

as the mastermind behind the kidnapping and drugging and attempted murder of Lucas 

Wolenczak. Both of them received minimum sentences of 10 years imprisonment with no 

possibility of parole. But at night when they lay in their flea bitten beds, the only person 

they think of when they get out in ten years in the teenager that put them there in the first 

place. Lucas Wolenczak. Who knows, revenge can be a funny thing sometimes.   
  


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